


Times Like These

by lucianamarie



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Death Eaters, First War with Voldemort, Gen, Hogwarts, Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter), Original Character(s), War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-03-10 10:06:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 109,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13499722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucianamarie/pseuds/lucianamarie
Summary: The war was getting worse and worse. The target on her back growing with her work on the Order of the Phoenix and her Professorship at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall decided that leaving home was the safest option for her family. Two excruciating years go by and she receives some horrifying news that brings her home. (Set during the First Wizard War)





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone,
> 
> This story is set during the first wizarding war and follows Minerva McGonagall through it. Timeline has been adjusted a bit and this war now takes place in the late nineties instead the eighties. I hope you like it. Thank you for reading.

_**Friday, December 19th 1997** _

The train had pulled out of the Hogsmeade station about an hour ago with only about six children inside. Most of the students were staying at school over the Christmas break this year. With the war raging on Hogwarts was the safest place for them. The school had also begun housing families of students who were at the most risk. Many Muggleborns and their children stayed at the castle, along with families of higher ups in the Ministry, families of Order of the Phoenix members and families of many of the professors. A strange wartime routine had formed at the school. Many of the adults who were staying at the castle had started pulling their own weight. Some had come together to form a sort of day care for the smaller children so that they wouldn't disrupt classes or cause trouble. Others had developed tutoring sessions to help students with their homework. Adult only Quidditch teams and adult only Defense classes had also formed to keep the people who had nothing better to do occupied. These games and classes helped keep morale up a bit. People were beginning to forget how things used to be. They were beginning to forget how Christmas used to be. The festive season seemed to be getting less and less festive as the years of war passed. They were at a point where even though the trees and the decoration were up, Christmas still hadn't arrived. Christmas break which once left Hogwarts buzzing with excitement and warmth had no effect in these last two years.

With the added adult support to look after the students, however, the professors whose families were not at Hogwarts were able to leave for the winter break. Many of them stayed at the castle anyways, though. Opting to stay and help out. Minerva McGonagall, however, was not one of these professors. Instead, here she stood in the cold December snow in front of the large front doors of her late husband's Rochester mansion. She pulled her coat closer around herself as she tried to build up the courage to ring the doorbell. The unforgiving winds blew up her sleeves and fluffy snowflakes settled in her greying hair. Her hair was out of its usual tight bun atop her head style, instead just open and flowing down her back. She had a hard enough time getting out of bed lately, let alone doing her hair. She stood on the step for only a second until finally, in one quick motion without thinking too much, Minerva reached out and pushed the doorbell button. She heard the familiar chime of the bells and waited for someone to open the door and invite her out of this frozen tundra. The longer she stood out on the front door step, she feared, the more likely someone would see her.

After a couple of excruciating moments the door opened. An eighteen year old Daniel Collins opened the door and, upon seeing who was there, went wide eyed. Of all the people to show up at his door now, his stepmother was among the last he would have guessed. She had left two years ago and was nowhere to be found when they had needed her the most. He had begun to think she would never come home. Yet here she stood in his doorstep probably expecting him to welcome her with open arms. He felt the anger build up inside of him but couldn't find his voice in order to speak.

Nobody said anything for a long time. Minerva watched him closely. Daniel was a spitting image of his father with the same tanned skin, messy black hair and grey eyes. She could see Daniel's hand twitch every so often as if he was debating just slamming the door closed in her face. He was so much older than he had been the last time she was here. He looked so much like his father.

Finally Minerva spoke, "Hello Dan-"

"What are you doing here?" Daniel interrupted her, finally finding his voice. His face shifted from an expression of surprise to one of anger. He glared at her and Minerva couldn't help but think of that old expression, if looks could kill.

"I - I heard about what happened," she whispered, tears already filling her eyes. She did her best to blink them away. She needed to be strong right now. She wouldn't be able to explain herself properly if she devolved into tears. Daniel just stared at her. "May I come in?"

He looked her up and down, took a deep breath and then nodded. Minerva felt relief wash over her. She was glad he hadn't just turned her away. He stepped to the right to allow her access into the house and quickly closed the door behind her. The warm house defrosted her fingers and toes. Daniel watched her take off her boots and hang her coat on a coat rack and then, without a word, turned around to walk towards the living room. Minerva quickly followed.

"Is Lucy home?" Minerva asked quietly.

Daniel nodded but didn't say anything. They walked in silence for a while. When they made it to the living room Daniel finally spoke again. "Sit."

Minerva sat down on the couch and was about to say something when a young Indian woman walked into the living room. She had long black hair that stopped about mid back and brown eyes. Her skin was a caramel brown much like Daniel's. She was quite tall coming up to a little passed Daniel's shoulders and wore black jeans with a light blue blouse. Nina Chaudhry said, "Daniel, I was - Oh, hello."

"Hello," Minerva said giving her a little smile.

"Nina, this is Lucy's mother, Minerva McGonagall," Daniel mumbled. He was standing in front of the coffee table. He did not make any move to sit down.

"Oh," Nina said, looking a little shocked. When she was finally able to pull herself together she walked over and stretched her hand out for Minerva to shake. "I'm Nina Chaudhry, Daniel's girlfriend."

"It's nice to meet you Nina," Minerva replied shaking her hand.

"You too," Nina replied. "Um, Lucy is upstairs. She just got home from school so she went up to change out of her uniform." She looked over at Daniel. "Should I go get her?"

"No, I think that we have to talk first," Daniel muttered.

"Should I leave you two -"

"No, you can stay," Daniel said. She nodded and sat down in an armchair, knowing full well that Daniel wanted her to stay. Daniel looked back at Minerva. "Is the war over?"

Minerva looked over at Nina but before she could say anything Daniel spoke again. "She already knows."

"Oh," she said quietly. She turned back to Daniel and shook her head. "The war isn't over but... I heard what happened to Jay and... and I'm so sorry, Daniel! If I had been here... if I had... I could have... I'm just so sorry."

Daniel stared at her. Tears were rolling down Minerva's face now but for some reason that only made him angrier. She should have been here. She shouldn't have left. She should have come back sooner. They had gone through so much and he had needed her but she wasn't there and now it was too late.

"I just wanted to make sure you two were okay. I wanted to see you both," Minerva continued when he didn't say anything. "You two shouldn't -"

"So you'll be leaving again, then?"

"No, no, I'm here to stay," Minerva replied quickly. "If you'll let me."

"Even with the war still going on?" Daniel asked, glaring at her and crossing his arms.

"Well, I -"

Minerva stopped when she saw a little head sticking out through the living room door looking at her. Her six year old daughter's cloudy grey eyes were staring right at her, the expression on her face unreadable. Minerva gave Lucy Collins a little smile. Daniel turned around and saw Lucy standing there as well. He gave her a half smile. "It's okay, you can come in."

She walked into the living room and over to where Nina was sitting, staring directly at Minerva as she moved. Nina smiled at Lucy as she approached. Lucy sat down next to Nina in the armchair. Minerva watched her. Her long hair was braided, going down her back. She wore black jeans and a dark red jumper.

"Hello, Lucy."

"Hi..."

Daniel looked at Minerva and then back at Nina. Nina nodded slightly and said, "Alright, Lucy, how about we let Daniel and Ms. McGonagall talk for a little while? Are you hungry? We should get you an after school snack."

Lucy nodded and Nina stood up. Lucy took her hand as they walked towards the kitchen. Minerva heard Lucy say quietly, "Nina, that was my -"

"I know, love," Nina replied.

Minerva turned back to Daniel. He motioned for her to continue. "Um, well, I just don't want you two to be alone right now," she said. "I know that me leaving put a lot of pressure on you and then Jay... and I just don't want you to have to deal with everything alone."

"We're not alone," Daniel muttered. "Nina is here to help."

"She seems like a very lovely girl."

"She is," he said with a nod. "Uncle Raj also helped us out a lot. He basically lives here now, he's over so often. Maria makes sure we have groceries, things for school, and deals with any of Collins Enterprises stuff that I might have to look at. We're not alone. We have a lot of people who stayed to help us."

"I'm glad and I will personally thank Raj and Maria for everything they've done but I want to help as well," Minerva said. "I told you I would come back and I'm back."

Daniel looked at her for a long time without saying anything. Finally when he spoke his voice wasn't angry anymore. It was sad and hurt. "I believed you," he said quietly. "I believed you when you said you were coming back and then when Dad got sick I thought you would for sure but you never did. You left me to deal with everything on my own and... and I... I just don't know anymore. You're back now, sure, but the war is still going on so I can't be sure you won't leave again. You can't be here and then leave again. It will kill Lucy."

"I'm not going to leave again, Daniel," Minerva said. "I know it's hard to trust me now but I'm not going to leave. I love you and Lucy, I want to be here for you both. I don't care about the war right now. You two are my top priority."

"I - I went up to Castletown," he said. "I thought maybe Isobel could help but - but she wasn't there either. She left too."

"She's in Germany right now. Doesn't get back till tomorrow. I doubt she even knows what's happened," Minerva said with a sigh. "I'm sorry she wasn't there when you went up."

"I may have accidentally punched a hole through her door."

Minerva smiled a little. "I'm sure she won't mind. Easily fixed."

He doesn't say anything.

Minerva took a deep breath. "I know that it might be hard to understand and I don't expect you to forgive me right away but... but I had to leave," she said. "I had to fight this war, Daniel, and it killed me to be away from you all. I thought about giving up everything and just coming back here, forgetting all about the wizarding world and its problems but - but I couldn't do that. I had to keep fighting for what I believed in, for what was right. I couldn't let people die every day because of who they were or who their parents were. I know what I did hurt you and Lucy. I know what I did is not easy to forgive but I hope that in time you both will come to understand and accept my apology."

He stared at her for a moment before turning away. She watched him. She wished he would say something. She had said what she had felt. She had given her explanation, good or not, now it was his turn to decide. As time passed Minerva thought that maybe he was just going to ask her to leave. She would understand if he did but it would destroy her. She should have done a better job to prepare herself for that possibility. It wasn't till now that the idea really hit her. What would she do if he did? Probably get a room here in Rochester and keep trying. She wasn't going to leave them alone again.

Finally Daniel spoke and when he did Minerva heard the pain in his voice. It broke her heart. "I do understand," he said as if it hurt him to say it. He did not want to understand. He did not want to forgive her yet. He was still angry with her for leaving him to deal with everything on his own. He had to give up so much but he had done it because he loved his father and Lucy and he would give anything to protect them. Which is why he understood. But understanding is not always enough. He knew what he thought logically but that did not change what he felt emotionally. "I understand giving up things to take care of people you love."

"Of course you do," she said, tears filling her eyes again. "You have been so strong, my love, and I am so proud of you."

Daniel took a deep breath and moved to an armchair. He sat down, leaned forward on his elbows, and put his head in his hands. Minerva moved over on the couch closer to the armchair that Daniel had been sitting on. She put a hand on his back. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. I'm so sorry for leaving. I wish I had been here, I wish I had known earlier."

"You're not going to leave again?"

"No, no, darling," Minerva whispered. "I'm here to stay, I promise."

There was silence for a long time until finally Daniel looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "I'm glad you're back," he said quietly, reaching over and giving her a hug.

Minerva smiled and hugged him back, resting a hand on the back of his head. "I'm glad I'm back too."

When they pulled apart Daniel said, "You'll probably want to talk to Lucy."

"Yes, that seems like a good idea," Minerva said with a smile. Daniel stood up and started walking towards the kitchen. Minerva followed him.

Nina was in the kitchen chopping vegetables for dinner. She smiled at them when they entered. "Alright?"

"Yeah, we're good," Daniel replied. "Where's Lucy?"

"She decided to go upstairs," Nina said with a frown.

Daniel turned back to Minerva. "You know where her room is right?"

Minerva nodded. She turned and exited the kitchen. She walked up the stairs and down the corridor until she reached the door she was looking for. She knocked on the door.

"Come in," came a small voice from the other side of the door.

Minerva opened the door and looked inside. Lucy was sitting on the floor with her back against her bed. She had a book in her hands and her legs were stretched out in front of her. She looked up when Minerva opened the door but quickly looked back at her book when she saw who it was. Minerva sighed and came into the room. She closed the door behind her.

"Hi."

Lucy didn't respond. She watched her mother from the corners of her eyes. Minerva walked over to the little girl and sat down on the floor beside her.

"What are you reading?" Minerva asked.

"Nancy Drew," Lucy whispered, moving the side of the book so Minerva could see the front.

"That sounds nice," Minerva said.

Lucy looked her mother up and down for a moment before turning back to the book and saying, "you look the same."

Minerva smiled. "You don't," she said. "You're so much older now."

"My hair is longer."

"Yes it is. It looks really pretty," Minerva replied. "Did you braid it yourself?"

"No, Nina did it," Lucy replied, quietly. She closed the book in her hands and put it down on the ground. She pulled her braid over her shoulder and played with the end of it, still not looking at Minerva. "Why are you here?"

"I came to see you."

Lucy frowned and let her hands fall to her side. "Why would you want to see me?"

Minerva looked down at her daughter but she was still avoiding looking at her. "Because I was worried about you," she said quietly. "And Daniel. I wanted to see you two and make sure you were okay."

"How long are you staying?"

"How long do you want me to stay?"

Lucy didn't respond. She finally looked up at her mother for a second and then stood up. Minerva watched her pick up her book and walk over to put it back on her bookshelf. She had a lot of Nancy Drew books. She also had a lot of comic books. It seemed that Daniel's love of comic books had rubbed off on her. They were all set on the bookshelf in alphabetical order. All her books were. Minerva smiled, she remembered alphabetizing her own books when she was younger.

"Daddy said that you would come back," Lucy whispered, her back still too Minerva. "Before he... died... but I didn't believe him."

"Lucy..." Minerva replied. Lucy turned around and looked at her. "I'm very sorry for leaving, my darling. I wish I never had and I don't expect you to understand but I hope you can forgive me, eventually."

Lucy walked over and sat down cross-legged in front of her mother with her hands in her lap. She stared at her mother for a second before frowning. "I'm pretty smart, you know," she said. "I can understand."

"Of course, I'm sorry," Minerva said with a small smile.

"Why did you leave?" Lucy asked, not smiling. She didn't want to joke. She wanted answers. Real answers.

"I had to leave because of work," she said with a sigh, "but I'm back now, darling."

Lucy's frown deepened. Work. That was a nothing answer and Lucy didn't like it. Minerva could tell that she wasn't buying it but it was the best answer she could give her right now. She didn't want Lucy to worry about war. Lucy was only six years old. It wasn't something she needed to know about right now. Instead Minerva decided to change the subject. She smiled a little and reached over to take Lucy's hands in hers. It seemed to take her by surprise but she didn't pull away. Minerva took this as a good sign.

"Now, why don't you tell me about yourself?" she said. "What have I missed? I want to know everything about you."

Lucy looked at their hands for a second before looking up at her mother again and shrugged a little. "I don't know," she mumbled. "I'm in year seven now."

"Year seven? Really?" Minerva asked with a smile.

Lucy nodded.

"That's wonderful," she said. "Aren't you supposed to be in your second year?"

Again Lucy nodded. "I had to take a test which placed me five years higher."

"That's excellent, love. I'm so proud of you!" Minerva replied with a smile. "You must really like school then, huh?"

"No, it sucks," Lucy mumbled, looking away. "Everyone is so much older than me and treats me like a baby but I met a girl named Anne who's really nice."

"Well that's good at least," Minerva said. "I'm sure the other kids will come around too."

Lucy didn't say anything. She looked back at her hands in her mother's. Minerva decided to change the subject. "So Christmas is coming," she said. "Are you excited?"

Lucy shrugged. "It doesn't feel like Christmas."

"I know, sweetheart," Minerva said with a sigh, running little circles on the backs of Lucy's hands with her thumb. "But maybe it will help cheer everyone up a bit."

"Daniel says we might go away for Christmas this year," Lucy mumbled.

"Oh?"

"Says that we might need a break from Rochester for a little while," she replied.

"Where are you going to go?" asked Minerva.

"I don't know," Lucy replied with another shrug. She looked back up at her mother. "Are you going to come?"

"If you want me to," Minerva said with a small smile.

Before Lucy could answer Nina's voice could be heard from downstairs. "Lucy, khaana!"

Lucy pulled her hands away from her mother and stood up. "It's time for dinner," she mumbled as she turned around and started walking out of the room.

Minerva stood up as well and followed her daughter down the stairs and into the kitchen. Daniel was sitting down with a plate of food in front of him already. Lucy walked to where Nina was standing and she handed the little girl a plate of her own. With the plate in hand, Lucy went and sat down across from Daniel at the table. Nina held out a plate for Minerva as well. Minerva thanked her, took it and then went and sat down at the table. Nina brought her own plate over to the table.

They ate quietly for a few minutes before Nina broke the silence. "So, Lucy how was your day?"

"It was okay," she said with a shrug, not looking up from her plate.

"Anything exciting happen?" Nina asked. "You probably had Christmas parties in most of your classes' right?"

"Yeah we had parties but nothing really exciting," Lucy mumbled.

"Um, alright," Nina said. She and Daniel exchange a look before she decided to just stop trying for now.

"How come Uncle Raj isn't here?" Lucy asked, looking up at Daniel.

"He had some late meetings and so he was going to be too late for dinner so he decided just to stay in London tonight," he said.

"Does Raj come over every night?" Minerva asked.

"Most nights," Nina said with a smile.

"He's been staying in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs," Lucy said. "He said that we could go skating tomorrow."

"Yes," Nina said. "We'll still go. The weather isn't supposed to be too bad."

"Do you know how to skate?" Daniel asked, looking at Minerva.

"I do somewhat," Minerva said. "I may be a little out of practice. Maybe you could help me, Lucy."

Lucy shrugged. "I'm not that good," she said. "Uncle Raj said he would help me."

"Last time we went, I think Lucy fell six time," Daniel said with a laugh. Lucy gave him a look making him laugh more.

Nina smiled and shook her head. She looked over at Minerva and asked, "so, you're a teacher?"

"Yes," Minerva replied.

"What do you teach?"

"I teach Transfigurations," Minerva said.

"It's the magic of changing one thing into another," Lucy said.

"That's right," Minerva said with smile. "I teach at a school called Hogwarts. Do you remember Hogwarts, Lucy?"

Lucy nodded. "It's a castle."

"That's cool," Nina said. "So you're a witch. Like a real witch! Brooms and cauldrons and all?"

Minerva smiled. "Yes, I'm a witch. Brooms and cauldrons and all."

"Lucy's been reading the textbooks you left behind and has been practicing magic," Daniel said. "She's getting pretty good. Moving things around and stuff."

"Yeah... you want to tell Daniel what you did last week when it was your turn to empty the dishwasher?" Nina asked giving Lucy a look.

Lucy smiled and her cheeks turned a little red. She looked back down at her plate again. "I broke three plates."

Daniel looked at her for a second and then back at Minerva. "Well, she sort of moves things around."

Minerva laughed. "Well, she's still learning."

The four of them ate their dinner and then moved back to the sitting room to drink their tea. Daniel sat down on the couch with the television remote and flipped through the channels absentmindedly. Nina sat beside him and Minerva sat in an armchair. Lucy sat on the floor by Nina's feet in front of the coffee table with her notebook and colouring pencils. Minerva watched her draw and then looked over at Daniel.

"Lucy tells me that you are planning on leaving for Christmas," she said.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he said, giving up on the television and leaving it on the food network. "All three of us have three weeks off of school so Nina and I were thinking that it might do us some good to get out of here for a little bit."

"Where were you planning on going?"

"We haven't decided yet," Nina said. She reached over and fixed a flyaway hair in Lucy's braid. "These two are honestly the most indecisive people you will ever meet. They will not make up their minds about anything. Planning with them is so hard."

"I told you that I was good with wherever you wanted to go," Daniel said.

"Me too," Lucy said quietly, looking around at Nina.

Nina smiled at Lucy and motioned for her to sit down on the couch next to her. Minerva watched as Lucy sat down next to Nina and leaned into her chest. Nina wrapped an arm around her. Minerva felt jealousy fill her. She wished that she could do the same. She wished that Lucy would come sit beside her and lean her head on her chest. Minerva wanted nothing more than just to hug her and do her hair and comfort her when she was sad. With a quiet sigh, Minerva pushed her jealousy to the side. She knew why things were like this. She had no one to blame but herself.

"I know, love," Nina said. "But you don't have any ideas of where we could go?"

"Um... Antarctica?" Lucy said with a smile.

"Antarctica? You want to go there in the middle of winter?" Daniel said with a laugh.

"Actually its summer in Antarctica right now," Lucy said matter-of-factly, making Nina and Minerva smile. "We could go hang out with the penguins."

Nina laughed. "She's got you there, Daniel," she said. "The seasons are reversed on that side of the world."

"I still don't want to go to Antarctica," he replied with a shake of his head. He looked over at Minerva. "Are you going to come with us, wherever it is we end up going?"

"If I'm invited," Minerva said.

"Of course you're invited," Nina said with a smile. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Um, well, my mother will be back from Germany tomorrow and will be hosting everyone over for Christmas as always," Minerva said. "We could go there if you would like."

No one said anything for a moment. Lucy looked over at her mother for a second. So her grandmother had been traveling. Her father hadn't lied. That's why they weren't able to go over last Christmas or the Christmas before. It wasn't because her nani didn't like her anymore.

"Scotland, right?" Nina asked and Minerva nodded. Nina looked over at Daniel. "Scotland sounds nice."

Daniel thought about it. Did he want to see Isobel and the others again right away? They stopped coming over because of the war too. Did he still blame them for that? He didn't know. He looked over at Lucy for a second before she finally looked at him.

Do you want to go? He asked without speaking. It was her grandmother after all. Lucy should decide if she wanted to go or not. It would be the hardest on her not him or Nina.

Lucy didn't know if she wanted to go. She knew Daniel was waiting for her to make the final decision but she wasn't good at doing that. She thought about it. She would love to see her nani again. She would love to talk to her but she had wanted to talk to her many times in the past two years and never got too.

Lucy sighed and gave Daniel a little nod. She would try. She would see what her nani had to say. Daniel smiled a little bit.

"Alright," he said. "We'll go. It might be fun. We haven't seen Lando, Flynn, and Lina in a very long time."

Lucy nodded a little. She suddenly felt very awkward and very unsure as too if she had made the right decision. She looked at Nina, who gave her a reassuring smile.

"Okay," Nina said. "When should we get there? We should probably book the flight as soon as possible."

"Um, well I think my brothers will be arriving on Tuesday," Minerva said, "but we don't need to take an aeroplane. We can get there faster using magic."

"But Uncle Raj doesn't know about magic," Lucy said quietly.

"Uncle Raj isn't coming with us, kid," Daniel said. "He has work so he's just going to stay in London."

"But... but then he'll be all alone for Christmas," Lucy said.

"He'll be okay, don't worry, love," Nina said with a small smile. "We asked him if he wanted to come with us. He was the one who decided not to come. He said he just couldn't miss work right now."

"Okay..." Lucy mumbled.

"So, how are we getting there if we're not flying?" Nina asked, looking back at Minerva. She was very interested in learning more about how wizards and witches travel.

"We'll take a Portkey," Minerva said.

"I thought it was very hard to get a Portkey right now," Daniel said.

"It is. The Ministry is very busy processing refugee Portkeys out of the country so they are not bothering with any requests for within the UK," Minerva said. "They've lifted the law against creating your own Portkey for now. People traveling within the UK are now allowed to just create their own."

"What exactly is a Portkey?" Nina asked, still confused.

"It's an object that can transport you great distances in a couple seconds," she replied.

"That's cool," Nina said. "So we don't have to worry about getting a flight. The Scotland idea is getting better and better."

"Nina's scared of planes," Lucy said quietly with a sly smile on her face.

"It's not that I'm scared," Nina said defensively making Daniel and Minerva smile. "I just don't like them. They're just not my favourite way to travel."

"So, we'll also leave on Tuesday then," Daniel said. "If that's when Robert and Malcolm are also coming."

"I will let Mother know so she doesn't come storming down here," Minerva said.

"Why would she come here?" Lucy asked.

"She was in Germany so she doesn't know what happened yet," Daniel told his sister.

"What hap- oh…" Lucy stopped talking and looked down at his feet. Nina gave her a little squeeze and a small smile.

Minerva looked at her daughter and sighed. Lucy was still dealing with everything. It had only been a few weeks after all. Minerva wished there was something she could do or say to take all the pain away but right now she couldn't even comfort her properly. Apparently Nina had taken that job from her.

Just then the phone rang and Lucy looked up again. Daniel looked over at it but didn't move. "That's probably Uncle Raj. Lucy, do you wanna get it?"

Lucy nodded and jumped up quickly. She raced over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" she said. "Hi, Uncle Raj... Yeah, I'm okay."

Minerva smiled a little. She was glad that Raj was doing so much for her children when she and Jay weren't able to. She would definitely thank him properly when she saw him next.

Lucy suddenly put the phone down on the table and looked back at Daniel. "I'm going to take the call in the kitchen."

Daniel nodded and she ran towards the kitchen. Daniel got up and waited for her to call that she got it before hanging up the phone on his side. He looked over at Minerva with a small smile and said, "she's talking about you."

"I know," Minerva said with a small smile.

Inside the kitchen Lucy had the phone back up against her ear. "Okay, I'm alone in the kitchen now."

"What is it you wanted to tell me, Princess?" Raj said with a smile.

"Uncle Raj, today something really weird happened."

"Oh?"

"Someone came to our house."

"It wasn't a reporter was it," Raj said, smile fading immediately and disdain in his voice. He was getting very sick and tired of these reporters exploiting Lucy and Daniel's pain for their stupid newspapers or magazines.

"No," Lucy said quietly. "It was my mum."

"Your mum?" Raj said, sounding very surprised. He took a moment and when he spoke again it sounded like he was trying very hard to sound happy for Lucy but she could hear the contempt in his voice. "Minerva is at your house right now?"

"Yeah," Lucy said. "She came a little while after I got home from school. She said that she heard what happened and wanted to make sure we were okay."

She heard what happened? Raj rolled his eyes. She must have heard that there was a huge pile of cash with her name on it.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Raj asked, pushing that thought from his head. He could deal with that later. Lucy and Daniel was his first priority. "How are you feeling? If you need me, I can drive over right now instead of waiting until tomorrow."

"No, it's okay," she said. "I'm okay. Just... weird."

"It is weird," he said.

"I don't forgive her."

Raj didn't say anything.

"Daniel forgave her like right away but I don't forgive her," Lucy said angrily. How could her brother do that? How could he just forgive her without much thought? Lucy couldn't do that. She didn't want to do that. "But I didn't. I don't want to forgive her yet."

"That is understandable," Raj said, a little cautiously. He didn't want to turn Minerva's daughter on her or try to tell Lucy how she should feel but he wanted her to know that how she felt was okay. "It's a hard thing to forgive. You can take all the time you need."

"Uncle Raj?"

"Yes, love?"

"Do you think I should forgive her like Daniel?" Lucy asked. She was still unsure. She didn't want to. She hated that Minerva wasn't there while her dad was sick. She hated that she and Daniel had to deal with it all without her. She hated that she had spent two years all alone without her. At the same time though, Minerva was her mum. Lucy loved her, didn't she? And Minerva loved her, didn't she?

Raj sighed. "I can't tell you that, my love," he said. "That's something you have to decide for yourself. Sometimes it takes longer for some people to forgive than for others. You don't have to feel pressured one way or another. It is all up to you."

"Okay," Lucy said. This wasn't really the answer she was looking for but she got the idea that Raj wasn't going to give her a yes or no answer. "When are you coming tomorrow?"

"I'm going to head out after lunch. I have a meeting with some business people from Glasgow so I will be a little while," he said.

"And then we can go skating?"

"Of course, Princess," Raj said, smile returning. "We can go as soon as I get there. For now, why don't you run along and play. Tell Daniel that I would like to speak with him."

"Okay, Bye, Uncle Raj," Lucy said. "I'll get Daniel."

"Goodbye, sweetheart."

Lucy put the phone down on the counter and raced back to the living room. "Daniel! Uncle Raj wants to speak to you!"

"Okay," Daniel said, getting up.

Lucy raced over and took the television remote from him before sitting back down next to Nina. Nina smiled at her as Lucy pulled some of the throw blanket Nina had been using over herself and started flipping through television channels.

"What did you and Uncle talk about?" Nina asked.

"Stuff," Lucy said with a shrug. "He's coming tomorrow after lunch and then we can all go skating."

"That's nice," Nina said.

Minerva sighed and rested her cheek on her fist. As happy as she was that Daniel and Lucy had both Nina and Raj during such a traumatic time in their lives, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the both of them. She wished that Lucy had run up to sit down next to her or that she was the one taking them all out to get their minds off everything.

Daniel walked into the kitchen, picked up the phone, and greeted his uncle. Raj greeted him back but took very little time to get to the matter at hand.

"Minerva is back."

"She is," Daniel said, nodding even though Raj wasn't here to see. "She got here a little while before dinner. It was... a surprise."

"A surprise, yes," Raj mumbled. "Are you alright, Daniel?"

"I'm okay. It was really Lucy that I was worried about mostly," he said. "She's not doing as well with this."

"She told me that she was okay but that she felt weird."

"Weird is one way to describe it, yes," Daniel said. He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, Uncle Raj. It's a strange feeling. Her being back. I keep forgetting that anything had happened at all and expect my dad to walk through the door any minute."

Raj sighed too. "Are you sure that you're okay, Daniel?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"What did she say? What was her excuse?"

"Ah," Daniel mumbled, not knowing what exactly to say. "She had to go away for - for work."

"For work? Teaching?" Raj asked.

"Yeah."

"Daniel..."

"I know that it sounds bad but -"

"Daniel, it sounds bad because it is bad," Raj said. "How many time have I or your father gone away from work? Have either of us ever gone for as long as she has or done so without ever contacting you during our trip?"

"No but -"

"Bud, I understand that you want this to work. I want it to work too but we have to be responsible about it, don't we?" Raj said, interrupting again. "For Lucy."

"Yes, I guess," Daniel said with a sigh. "How do we go about it responsibly?"

"I don't know if her staying with you is a very good idea," Raj said. "I just - I don't know, bud. She's back, yes, but if she leaves again..."

"It will destroy Lucy."

"Yes, so we have to be careful about it."

"She's here now, though. I can't ask her to leave. It's technically her house too," Daniel said. "Both our names are on the deed."

Raj took a deep breath. This is exactly why he had wanted Jay to sign everything over to Daniel. He didn't want them to get mixed up in a legal mess like this.

"Alright, we can all sit down and talk when I come tomorrow," Raj said. "Maybe I can get her to sign the house over to you and then we'll know the real reason she's here."

"I don't think she's just here because of the money," Daniel said with a frown. "I don't think she cares about that stuff."

"That may be what she told you but I don't know, love. The timing is just not great," he replied.

"Yes but for a situation like this when would the timing be great?"

There was a long pause before Raj sighed again. "I don't know, bud."

"All I know right now, Uncle Raj, is that she's back. She says she's back because she wanted to be there for us and that's what I choose to believe," Daniel said.

Of course Daniel, very much like his father, wanted to see the good in other people. Raj tried. He always liked to think he could do it too but he just couldn't get over a woman leaving her four and sixteen year olds for two years without even once giving them a call.

"By the way, we've decided where we're going over Christmas break."

"Oh, where?"

"We're going to Scotland."

"You're going to see Isobel."

"Yes," Daniel said.

Raj didn't say anything for a long time and Daniel was starting to get a little worried. He wanted his uncle to support this idea and agree that it was a good decision because he was still a little unsure.

"I was hoping you three would go somewhere outside the UK," Raj said finally. "Somewhere where you could forget about everything for a little while."

"I know but I think this will be good for us," Daniel said. "I haven't seen my cous- well, I guess they're not really my cousins but... I haven't seen them in a long time and I don't blame them for what their parents did."

Raj thought this over for a minute. Maybe it would be good for Daniel and Lucy to see their cousins.

"Alright, if that's what you've decided. You can talk to Maria to book the flight and everything."

"Min's got it covered. Don't worry."

Of course she did. Raj rolled his eyes again. He and Daniel talked for a little while longer before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone. Daniel wished that he could just tell Raj about magic and the war. He would understand better if he just knew. He would suggest such horrible things if he knew the whole situation.

He sighed and shook his head. He walked back towards the living room where he found Lucy and Nina sitting on the floor playing checkers. He walked over and pointed at one of the red checkers.

"You can take two of the black ones with this one."

Nina smiled and moved her piece. "Nice!"

"Hey! You're not allowed to help!" Lucy yelled, glaring up at her brother.

Daniel laughed as he walked back over to the couch. Minerva looked over at him and gave him a little smile.

"I hope that Raj wasn't too hard on me," she said quietly.

Daniel's smile faded and he didn't respond. Minerva's smile faded as well. She wondered what Raj had said about her. She hoped that Daniel didn't believe anything he may have said.

"It's nothing. You don't have to worry about it," Daniel said.

They all sat in the living room for a while. Nina won the checkers game against Lucy but Lucy insisted that it was only because of Daniel's help.

Eventually it was time for Lucy to go to bed. Nina stood up and held her hand out for Lucy to take but Lucy crossed her arms, frowned, and shook her head.

"But it's not even a school night," she whined. "I should be allowed to stay up long!"

She looked over at Daniel for support.

"Sorry, kid," he said, putting his hands up in defeat. "It's out of my hands."

"Besides, you've already stayed up past your regular school night bedtime," Nina tried to reason. "You did get to stay up later."

"I think I'll head to bed too," Minerva said, standing up as well.

"See, everyone's going to bed," Nina said.

Lucy sighed. "Fine."

She stood up and took Nina's hand. Nina smiled and then looked over at Minerva. "I can get you a room ready," she said. She look over at Daniel. "Should I fix up the master bedroom?"

Daniel nodded. "I think some of her clothes are still in there."

Nina nodded and then looked back at Minerva. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure," Minerva said though she wasn't exactly sure how she felt staying in her late husband's room. It had been so long since she had even seen that room.

"Alright," Nina said with a smile. "Follow me."

"Good night, Daniel," Lucy said.

Daniel smiled. "Night, Lucy. Night, Min."

Minerva smiled. Daniel hadn't called her 'Min' in so long. "Goodnight, Daniel."

Nina led Lucy and Minerva up the stairs, Lucy still holding her hand. She opened the master bedroom door and motioned for Minerva to enter. "I'm going to put this little one to bed and then I'll bring you some blankets."

Minerva nodded. "Alright, thank you," she said with a smile. "Goodnight, Lucy."

Lucy looked up at her mother. "Night," she whispered before pulling Nina by the hand towards her own bedroom.

Minerva watched Lucy's bedroom door open and close before entering her own room. She looked around the bedroom. It looked the same as it had the day she left. The same pictures hung on the wall. The same houseplants sat on the windowsill. The same clothes hung in the closet. It looked like Daniel hadn't gotten rid of any of his father's clothes yet. Minerva looked at the line of suits hung in the closet and felt the tears sting her eyes. She took a deep breath and closed the closet door quickly. She walked over and sat down on the bed. She sat there and waited for a while. Finally she heard the door to Lucy's bedroom open and close again. Nina walked through the hallway to the hallway closet. She got some blankets and sheets for Minerva and then walked back to the master bedroom.

"Okay, here we go," Nina said. Setting the clear plastic bag that held the new bedspread on the ground and opening it. She moved to the bed and began to pull the blankets and sheets off of it. Minerva stood up and watched her do so. "So, um, I noticed you didn't have any bags so if you need anything just let me know. I think we have some extra toothbrushes and stuff like that laying around."

"Oh, no I actually do have a bag," Minerva said. She pulled out what looked like a miniature suitcase out of her pocket. It looked like something that would come with a doll. Minerva set it down on the ground and pulled out her wand.

Nina watched with wide eyes as she flicked her wand and the suitcase expanded to normal size. "Wow! That's awesome!"

"Thank you," Minerva said with a smile. She moved back over to the bed and helped Nina spread the fitted sheet on the mattress.

"I wish I could do magic," Nina said. "It seems like it could really come in handy."

"It definitely makes things easier," Minerva said. "How long did it take before you found out about it?"

"Not very long," Nina said with a laugh. "Lucy showed me a few weeks after Daniel and I started seeing each other. The first day we spent just the two of us."

"Wow," Minerva said with a shake of her head. "Lucy can't keep a secret to save her life."

"She really can't," Nina laughed, "but in her defence, she had been having a very bad day and seemed to be at the end of her rope. She just didn't have the energy to stop herself from telling the secret."

"Oh," Minerva said. "Well, to be fair, magic may be easy but you Muggles seem to be good at inventing ways of making things more convenient on yourselves as well."

"Muggles?"

"Oh, sorry, that's what we call non-magical people," Minerva explained.

"Oh, well, yeah I guess we have but, I mean, it's not really the same," Nina said with a smile.

"Well, I mean, modern medicine rivals that of potions and spells," Minerva replied. "Lucy was born premature and it was Muggle medicine that saved her life. Magic couldn't do anything to help her."

"Really?" Nina asked as she changed the pillow cases.

"Yes and I'm sure there other things muggles have come up with that I'm unaware of. Wizards seem to think they're better than muggles because they can do magic but both have their own value. We cannot say one is better than the other."

Nina smiled. "I'm glad you think so. Daniel told me that there is a war going on in the wizard world right now."

"Yes," Minerva said with a sigh, sitting back down on the bed.

Suddenly the smile on Nina's face faded away and she stopped what she's doing. She looked at Minerva and said, "I know that you left to protect Daniel and Lucy so, please don't take this the wrong way I just have to ask, are they safe now?"

"We are living in a very dangerous time," Minerva admitted, "but this house is quite safe for now. Before I left, before Lucy was even born, when the war first started I put a lot of enchantments on this house to protect us from intruders and my mother's house in Scotland is also quite safe. I also took extra precaution to make sure I was not followed here."

Nina nodded. Her smile returned and she got back to fixing up the bed. "Okay good," she said. "Sorry, I just had to be sure."

"No, I understand. I appreciate your concern for both Daniel and Lucy's safety," Minerva replied with a small smile. She got up again and walked closer to Nina. "Thank you, Nina, for looking after my children. Both of them."

Nina smiled. "Of course. They're great people. I'm just glad to have gotten the chance to have them in my own life. They take care of me as much as I take care of them."

"You and Daniel are very good together," Minerva said with smile. "I'm glad you two found each other."

"So am I," Nina replied. She put the pillows back on the bed and threw the old covers back on the bag. "Alright, we're all set here. Sleep well, Ms. McGonagall. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Nina," Minerva said as Nina exited the room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please leave a review letting me know what you think!
> 
> I originally posted this story on Fanfiction.net but I thought I might post it here as well. I want to try to improve my writing so I thought that getting it out to more people and hearing from that would help me! Thank you!


	2. Skating and Nosy Reporters

**_July 4th 1987_ **

_July fourth had not always been such a horrible day for Minerva McGonagall. No, actually July the fourth was once just another summer day. Hogwarts classes were long over and the summer holidays were in full swing. The day, like any other summer day, brought beautiful Scottish sunsets, songs played by crickets, fireflies dancing through the night, and long walks in the warm summer breeze. Minerva never really gave this date very much thought. Why would she?_

_Until, that is, the events that occurred just six years prior. Now suddenly the day stuck out in her mind. Minerva always felt its approach. It weighed down on her in a way she could not explain. The coldness of the day pushed the warmth of the summer aside._

_Six years. It had been six years. She should be over it by now. She should have moved on by now. She should not feel this way every time this day came around. Yet, she did. She hadn’t gotten over it. She hadn't moved on. She was stuck and she didn’t think that this cold, dark feeling would ever go away._

_“Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer, Minerva? I don't think you should be alone right now,” Malcolm McGonagall told his elder sister. He knew this day was always hard on her and he wished she would let him help her but time and time again all Minerva ever did on this cold, lonely day was isolate herself even further. Minerva had been staying with her brother and sister-in-law for a couple days now and, to Malcolm’s great displeasure, had decided to leave today of all days._

_“I’m fine,” Minerva said, looking back at her brother and giving him a very unconvincing smile. She just couldn’t handle talking to anyone right now. She just needed to get away from people for a little while. She loved Malcolm and Daisy and their boys, Lando and Flynn, of course she did but right now all she needed was a nice drink in a small Muggle pub where no one would try to talk to her. “Thank you for having me over, Malcolm. Give my best to Daisy and the children. I’ll see you all soon.”_

_“Alright...” said Malcolm still a little uncertainly, giving Minerva a hug. “Take care of yourself, Minerva. I'll see you around.”_

_She nodded and said one last goodbye before walking out the door into the warm summer night. A light breeze blew up the sleeves of her coat but it was different from what she remembered. It was colder. Despite the weather, Minerva pulled her coat tighter around herself, trying her best to warm herself a little bit as she walked down the path. It didn’t work very well._

_Minerva finally made it to the edge of Malcolm’s property, looked around to make sure no one saw her, and pulled out her wand. She apparated away from Scotland and reappeared in London._

_Ah, London. Truly a city that could understand how she felt today. The grey moody skies, the rushed of people avoiding each other, the old falling apart buildings trying to hold themselves together among the new skyscrapers._

_Minerva walked to one of her favourite little London pubs. She walked into the dimly lit and quiet pub towards the bar where she ordered a whisky. She liked this place. It never got too busy and the people who did come here, came to drink alone. Occasionally a young couple would stumble upon this bar and be pulled in by its charm, coming in and making noise, but most nights it was a nice quiet place to get a drink and forget about things for a while. No one here would try to start a conversation with her here. The bartender handed her a glass without a word and she took a sip, letting the amber liquid warm her from the inside a little bit._

_For a while Minerva drank alone. Letting the day engulf her in its coldness. Letting her thoughts wander to the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘if onlys’. Things she should have said, things they should have done, things she missed with all her life and would do anything to get back. If only they had gotten more time. If only she hadn’t waited so long to say yes._

_Then. Then suddenly she stopped. She heard the door behind her open and for some reason Minerva had a sudden urge to look back. She indulged herself and saw him. A tall man with messy jet black hair and caramel brown skin. She watched him sit down at the bar, a few seats away from her, and order a whisky as well. The bartender handed him a drink and he drank it slowly for a while. Minerva couldn’t say why exactly but she just couldn’t take her eyes away from him. He finally noticed her staring and met her eyes._

_Those eyes. Light grey and stormy, reflecting the London sky outside. They were the most amazing eyes that Minerva had ever seen. They drew her to him in a way that she could not explain. It looked as if a storm was brewing behind them and Minerva felt herself wanting to learn more about this man._

_The man noticed that she did not look away when he caught her staring and gave her a crooked little smile. “Alright?” he asked, voice just above a whisper. Minerva nodded and quickly looked away, apparently having snapped out of her trance. He smiled a little, this all felt very high school. He decided to try and start some conversation. The problem was that he was very out of practice when it came to talking with pretty women. “Looks like it might rain, huh?”_

_The weather? Really? Stupid. That was so stupid. He shook his head and glared down at his glass._

_“Yes,” Minerva said, not looking up from her own glass. This wasn’t what she had wanted, she reminded herself. She just wanted to drink alone. She didn’t want to talk._

_“What’s your name?” he asked, looking the woman up and down. She was very beautiful, though she did not seem to have a very welcoming aura. She had dark black hair tied in a high bun and bright blue eyes. She wore a plain dark green blouse, black trousers, and a long black coat. He wondered what her story was. He wanted to learn more about her._

_“Minerva.”_

_“That’s a nice name,” he said with a smile. “Roman goddess of wisdom, right?”_

_“I suppose.”_

_“Are you very smart then?” What the hell is wrong with you?!_ _That was even stupider than starting a conversation with the weather._

_Minerva looked up from her glass and raised an eyebrow at him. “I would like to think so,” she said. Was this supposed to be flirting because if it was, this man was definitely not very good at it. Minerva couldn’t decide if she was flattered or annoyed. She supposed that it may be a mixture of both._

_“Of course,” he said with a smile, glad that she wasn’t scared off by his stupidity. He let himself relax a little and tried to control any other stupidity that might try to come out of his mouth. “I’m Jay. Jay Collins.”_

_Minerva nodded and looked back down at her glass. She felt like she had heard that name before but wasn’t sure where exactly. She was sure that she had never met Jay Collins before, she would have definitely remembered those eyes, but she was sure she had heard the name before._

_There was a long silence before Jay sighed and turned back to his own drink. It seemed he had blown it. She didn’t want to talk to him anymore. He probably shouldn’t have questioned her intelligence._

_Minerva sighed. For some reason she did want to talk to him. There were very few people that she would seek out conversation with on a day like today and somehow this Jay Collins man, in the few minutes of knowing him, had become one of them. She wanted to say something and continue the conversation but she didn’t know what to say._

_“Ah... what do you do for work, Mr. Collins?” she asked finally, looking back up over at him and giving him a little smile._

_“Please, call me Jay,” he said with a smile, taking this invitation for conversation and moving over into the seat beside her. “I run a company.”_

_“Oh?”_

_“Yeah, not that exciting,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Not that big a deal. What do you do, Minerva?”_

_“I’m a teacher,” Minerva replied. “Secondary school.”_

_“What do you teach?”_

_“Um, physics,” Minerva said. It wasn’t a complete lie. Transfigurations was most like the Muggle discipline of physics. The theory required following mathematical formulas taking into account the body weight of the object to be transfigured, the viciousness, wand power, and concentration. She had heard many Muggleborns in her class complain of the class’s likeness to their previous science classes, physics in particular._

_“Wow, physics. So you are smart,” Jay said with a smile._

_“You doubted me?” Minerva asked, raising an eyebrow at him._

_“Oh, of course not,” he replied with a laugh. Damn, this woman could arch an eyebrow like no other._

_“Are you married, Jay?”_

_Jay’s warm smile faded and he closed his eyes. Shaking his head, he said, “uh, no. I was but she got into a pretty bad car accident years ago now and... didn’t make it.”_

_“Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” she said quickly. She of all people shouldn’t have asked a stupid question like that. If he had been married, why would he talk to her like this anyway?_

_“That’s alright,” Jay said with a sigh. “You didn’t know.”_

_“My husband actually passed away a couple of years ago as well,” Minerva said quietly, looking down at her glass of whisky. As soon as the words left her mouth she was astonished with herself. She barely talked about her personal life with people she had known for years yet here she was talking to a complete stranger about it._

_“I believe we’ve both just figured out why we’re both sitting here drinking whisky alone tonight, huh?” he said, giving her an understanding look._

_“I believe so.”_

_More silence. This silence was not awkward and uncertain like the last one, however. They both felt comfortable drinking together silently._

_Finally Jay broke the silence though. “Do you have children, Minerva?”_

_“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “Do you?”_

_Jay smiled a little. “I have a son,” he said, thinking about the little eight year old boy waiting for him back in his hotel room. “His name is Daniel. He’s quite the kid. He’s eight.”_

_Minerva smiled a little as well. She and Jay talked quietly for a long time. Minerva hadn’t realized how late it was until she glanced down at her watch and saw that she had been sitting here with Jay for over four hours now. She decided that it was probably time for her to head home so she stood up and said, “It was very nice to meet you, Jay, but I should really get going now. It’s getting quite late.”_

_“It was very nice meeting you as well, Minerva,” he said, standing up as well. “Let me get your tab for you.”_

_“Oh no, that’s not nece-”_

_“No, no, I insist,” Jay said with a smile, handing his card to the bartender before she could do anything about it._

_“Well, thank you,” she said, smiling a little. “That is very generous of you.”_

_“So... will I see you again?” Jay asked._

_Minerva smiled. “Well,” she said thoughtfully. She hadn’t really had any plans to come back to London after she went back to Hogwarts but now suddenly she wanted to. “I’ll be back here next Saturday.”_

_“Then I will be as well,” Jay said with a smile. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”_

_“I think I would like that,” Minerva said with a small smile. “I look forward to seeing you again, Jay Collins.”_

_“You too, Minerva McGonagall.”_

_He watched her walk out of the bar before turning back to the bartender with a very stupid smile on his face. The bartender smiled at him as well._

_“She’s never talked to any man that’s ever approached her in here,” he said. “You’re the first one. Good job.”_

_Jay smiled. “Thank you,” he said. “She’s really something.”_

_Outside, in an alleyway close by, Minerva Apparated to the Hogwarts gates and walked up the path towards the castle. She felt a little tipsy and, to her surprise, very happy. She hadn’t felt like this in a very long time and hadn’t thought that she ever would. Jay Collins was really something and she couldn’t wait to see him again next Saturday._

_She made it back to her office and sat down in her desk. She looked down at the Muggle and Wizard newspapers that littered her desk and started to tidy them up a little bit when something caught her eye. There in one of the Muggle newspapers was a picture of the man she had just met smiling and shaking hands with another, older man. Collins Enterprises strikes huge deal with Stark Industries. Jay Collins was the CEO of one of the largest companies in the United Kingdom!_

_“Not a big deal,” Minerva mumbled to herself with a smile and a shake of her head before she finished tidying up her desk. She got up, pulled the torch above her desk to open the secret door, and walked into her private rooms to go to bed._

* * *

**_Saturday, December 20th 1997_ **

“Yeah, I know,” Lucy murmured quietly into the phone. She was talking to her friend, Anne Linwood, on the phone in the kitchen. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. “It was weird.”

“Yeah, oh my god,” Anne replied. “I - I don’t know what to say Lucy.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Lucy said.

“Well, as much as I think it’s stupid that she was gone for so long, it is good that she did come back right?” Anne said. “I know that you probably don’t want to hear that but coming home is at least a good first step.”

“I guess,” Lucy muttered. “Daniel forgave her right away. I don’t know why he would do that. Why isn’t he angry at her like I am?”

“Did she say why she was gone for so long?”

“She just said that she had work to do.”

“Oh... that’s not a good answer.”

“No, it’s not,” Lucy said darkly. She looked back over her shoulder but the kitchen was still empty. “I just wish he would yell at her and tell her that what she did was horrible! I want him to be on my side. Why is he on hers? He’s supposed to be my brother and he was here when she wasn’t. She left him too so why isn’t he acting like a normal person about this?”

“I don’t think there is a normal way to act,” Anne replied. “This isn’t really a normal thing.”

“It’s supposed to be team Lucy and Daniel,” Lucy muttered. “Why is he not on my team anymore?”

“Lucy, I don’t think that’s what he’s -”

Just then Minerva walked into the kitchen. Lucy looked over at her. “Ah, yeah. That’s good, Anne,” she said quickly into the phone. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Did she just walk into the room?” Anne asked with a laugh.

“Yes,” Lucy said as Minerva sat down at the kitchen table. “Bye.”

“Bye, Lucy,” Anne said, still laughing.

Lucy hung up the phone and looked over at the table where Minerva was sitting. Minerva smiled at her. “Were you talking to your friend from school?”

“Ah, yeah,” Lucy mumbled, walking towards the door. “Where’s Daniel?”

“I think he and Nina are in the home office,” Minerva replied as she unfolds a newspaper. “Something about finalizing their schedules for the next semester.”

“Oh,” Lucy said. She looked at Minerva for a moment looking like she was about to say something before changing her mind and running towards the office.

As she approached, she could hear Nina and Daniel talking and laughing. She opened the door and saw Daniel sitting at the desk looking at a program booklet for business at the University of Kent. Nina was sitting on top of the desk with her legs crossed with her own nursing book in hand.

“If I take it at twelve, I can be off by - oh, hello, Lucy,” Nina said with a smile, looking over at the little girl in the doorway. “What’s up?”

“Um... are you two busy?” Lucy asked.

“Not really,” Daniel said with a smile, putting down his booklet. “We have all break to do this. What do you need?”

“I - I wanted to talk to you, Daniel,” she said, quietly. “About... stuff.”

Nina hopped off the desk and smiled at Lucy. “Alright, why don’t I go and let you guys talk then.”

“Thanks, Nina,” Lucy said with a small smile.

“Of course, love,” Nina said, tousling her hair as she walks by. She closed the office door behind her.

Lucy walked around the desk and stood beside Daniel’s chair. He swirled it around so that he could face her and gave her a little smile. “What’s up, kid?”

“Daniel... I - I,” Lucy mumbled. She felt really sad all of a sudden and felt the tears fill her eyes. She crossed her arms and glared up at her brother. “I’m mad at you!”

“What? Why?” Daniel said, smile fading away. “Did I do something to upset you?”

“Yes! You’re - you’re not on my side anymore!” Lucy exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes. “You’re on _her_ side and you don’t care about me anymore!”

“Lucy, what are you saying? Of course I care about you,” Daniel said, pulling her closer. “I’m not on anyone else’s side. It’s team Lucy and Daniel remember? It always has been and it always will be.”

“Not anymore,” Lucy said as the tears rolled down her cheeks. “You forgave her just like that! How could you do that? How could you not be angry? I’m so angry at her and you don’t even care that she left!”

“Lucy, I was angry too,” Daniel said. He pulled Lucy into his lap and sighed. “I was so angry with her but I talked to her. She’s so sorry. You know, she’s hurting just like we are. She had her reasons for leaving but she’s back now so it doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter! She was gone for two years and now I don’t need her anymore,” Lucy said, crossing her arms. “She should have just stayed away. I don’t want her here.”

“Yes, you do,” he said. “I know you do. She’s your mum. Of course you do.”

“I don’t.”

“Lucy....”

“I have you and I have Nina and Uncle Raj and Maria. I don’t need her,” Lucy said. “I wish I could trade her for... for someone else.”

Daniel took a deep breath and turned her around in his lap so she could face him. She looked at him with her tear stained face. He reached up and wiped the tears away. “Listen, kid. I know it still hurts and I know you miss him so much. So do I, but we can’t change what happened no matter how much we might want to. We have to keep moving forward, even if every step hurts a little bit, because one day it will stop hurting so much. Maybe it won’t go away entirely but it won’t feel this bad at least,” he said quietly. “We’ve both lost someone we really love but we can’t let that loss push other people that love us away. We have to let the people that love us stay. If she didn’t love us she wouldn’t have come back but she did so she does. She loves us and wants to help us. We shouldn’t push her away because we need her right now. I know you think that you don’t but you do. Nina is amazing and I love her but she can’t be Minerva. She can only be Nina and you can’t expect her to be anything else.”

“I don’t want her to be anything else,” Lucy whispered. “I just... I just want things to be normal again.”

“I know. So do I,” he said. “We’ll get there, Lucy. We will, eventually. But no matter what, it’s always going to be team Lucy and Daniel. You can’t get me off your team that easily, man!”

She smiled a little. “I like team Lucy and Daniel,” she said. “I don’t want you to not be on my team.”

“I’ll always be on your team,” he said, tousling her hair a bit.

“I’m always on your team too,” she said with a smile.

“Good,” he said, putting her down. “Now, why don't you go get a glass of water and calm down. Uncle Raj will be here soon and you don't want him to see that you were crying, do you?”

Lucy shook her head. She wiped her face more to make sure there were no more tears to give her away before running off to get a cup of water.

Minerva was still in the kitchen when she entered. She looked up at Lucy and gave her a little smile but Lucy ignored her, walking to where Nina was standing instead. She asked for a glass of water and Nina gave it to her before leaving to keep planning her courses with Daniel. Again it was just Lucy and Minerva in the kitchen now.

Lucy put her glass down but before she could run away again, Minerva spoke. “Lucy,” she said, putting down her newspaper. “Do you mind coming and sitting with me a minute?”

“Ah...” No good excuse came to mind. “Okay.”

Lucy walked over to the table and sat down across from Minerva, looking down at her hands. Minerva looked at her with a sigh. “I’m guessing you remember your _nani_ , aunts and uncles, and cousins.”

Lucy nodded.

“Lando and Flynn are both graduated now,” Minerva said. “Lando runs a bookstore in Edinburgh and Flynn works with dragons.”

Lucy looked up suddenly. “Dragons?”

“Yes,” Minerva said with a smile. “He’s a dragon trainer now. He works on the Irish Dragon Reservation in Northern Ireland.”

“That’s so cool,” Lucy said. “Does he get to ride dragons there?”

“I’m not sure. You can ask him when we see him,” she said.

“ _Nani_ was in Germany?” Lucy asked.

“Yes, she had some work to go there. She gets in tonight and I’ll send her a letter to tell her that we’re all coming over. If you want to you could send a letter as well.”

Lucy shook her head. She didn’t want to write a letter. She would just ask all her questions on Tuesday.

“She’ll be very worried when she finds out everything that’s happened while she was gone,” Minerva said with a sigh. “I’m sure she’d like a letter from you telling her you’re okay.”

“She didn’t need one the last two years,” Lucy muttered.

Minerva didn’t say anything and Lucy looked down again quickly.

“Sorry,” she whispered. She was such an idiot. She hadn’t realized that she was talking out loud. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“That’s alright,” Minerva said softly. “I know that you’re still angry and you have every right to be, darling, but... don’t be angry at them. They were just doing what I asked. _Nani_ wanted to come see you so badly but I asked her not too. I -”

“Why would you do that?” Lucy asked, looking up again and glaring at her mother. Why would Minerva stop Lucy’s grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins from coming to see her? Why did she want her, Daniel, and Jay to be lonely? “That’s not very nice.”

Minerva sighed. “It’s complicated, love,” she said. “It was just better for them not to keep coming down to Rochester all the time.”

“Why would it be better?” Lucy asked angrily. “Why wouldn’t it be better for _Nani_ to come visit and see us? We spent Christmas all by ourselves. I didn’t get to see anyone on my birthday or Daniel’s. Aunty Amelia didn’t come over even once all because of you. I don’t understand why that was better. Why would it be better for us to be all alone?”

“Sweetheart, that’s not -”

“Don’t call me that. I don’t like it,” Lucy said, getting up quickly. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”

She ran out of the kitchen. Minerva put her head in her hand and sighed. Why did all of her conversations with Lucy have to end like this? She heard the doorbell ring and voices in the front entrance. Quickly, she straightened up and wiped her cheeks before Daniel, Nina, and Raj walked into the kitchen. Raj Patil was a tall, handsome, muscular Indian man with black hair combed back neatly and brown eyes. He looked older than Minerva remembered. His hair had greyed considerably and he looked more tired. Raj had been Jay’s best friend since they were eighteen and met at Oxford. After Jay dropped out to start Collins Enterprises, Raj became his business partner. He held a briefcase in his left hand and his warm smile faded upon seeing Minerva's face.

Minerva stood up and walked around the table. “Hello, Raj.”

“Minerva,” Raj said in a tone that no one would describe as warm or friendly.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Minerva said, giving him a small smile and sticking out her hand for Raj to shake.

He shook her hand but did not say it back. Instead he said, “hmm... where’s Lucy?”

“I think she’s in her bed-”

“Uncle Raj!” Lucy said, running into the kitchen.

Raj turned around and smiled at her. “Hello, sweetheart!” he said, picking her up into his arms and giving her a hug. Apparently Lucy was alright with him calling her sweetheart. “How are you?”

“I’m okay,” Lucy said. “Can we go skating now?”

“Yes, we can,” Raj said, putting her down. “I just have some things to discuss with your brother first.”

Lucy sighed. “Okay....”

“Why don’t we go get ready while they talk,” Nina said, giving Lucy a small smile and holding her hand out for her. Lucy nodded and took her hand and Raj thanked Nina.

“Ah,” Daniel said awkwardly, looking between his stepmother and his uncle. “We can go talk in the office.”

“That is a good idea,” Raj said with a small nod. “Please lead the way Daniel.”

Daniel nodded and walked from the room. Minerva looked at Raj who motioned her ahead of him. She followed Daniel towards the office and Raj walked behind her. When they made it to the home office Daniel offered his uncle the seat at the desk and, after some insistence on Daniel's part, Raj took it. Minerva and Daniel sat down in front of the desk. Daniel looked away, awkwardly playing with his fingers. Minerva watched Raj carefully. He leaned back in her husband's chair and set his briefcase on the desk.

“I would like to thank you, Raj,” Minerva said, finally breaking the silence. “I know that you have done and continue to do a lot for my family and I very much appreciate it. Thank you for looking after them while I was away.”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Raj said dismissively. “They are my family too.”

“Of course,” Minerva said.

Raj took a deep breath. “Minerva,” he said delicately, “you have been absent for two years now so you must understand that your sudden reappearance could raise some questions in our - my,” he wasn't going to bring Daniel in with him like that, “head.”

Daniel appreciated his correction. He had defended Minerva during their phone call and he was glad that his uncle had been listening to him. Raj understood that Daniel did not share the same concerns that he did and he respected that.

Minerva thought his words over carefully, a frown appearing on her face though Raj could not be sure if that was from concentration or from her being angered by his words already. Minerva finally gave him a small nod. “That is, I suppose, understandable,” she said. “Daniel and Lucy both had questions of their own, I would expect no different of you.”

“So, you are will to address my concerns? Even if the ideas I bring up anger you?”

It all felt so formal. She couldn't remember ever having a conversation with Raj like this before she left. He had always been so friendly, a little goofy, and never very serious. Minerva missed that goofiness. She knew that everyone in this house had lost a little bit of their goofiness in the last few weeks but she did hope that eventually it would come back and they would be happy again.

“I believe that our goals are the same, Raj,” Minerva said. “We both want to protect Lucy and Daniel so I can appreciate your concern for them.”

“Excellent,” Raj said though he did not smile. “Two years. Two years without a letter or a phone call. Then you show up here now. You must admit the timing seems a little suspicious.”

“Timing?” Minerva asked with a frown. “I do not understand your meaning.”

“I just want to be sure that the fact half of Jay’s estate now being up for grabs did not affect your decision to return.”

Daniel winced at the words and avoided looking at Minerva even more.

“I - what?” Minerva said, still not completely understanding what he was saying.

“This house now belongs to you. Half of Jay’s money, half of Collins Enterprises, all of Jay’s land in other countries. Investments, bonds, accounts,” Raj said. “All now available for you.”

Minerva could not believe what she was hearing. How dare he accuse her of only coming back for Jay’s money! She hadn’t even given that stuff much thought. All she cared about was Lucy and Daniel.

“I am here for one reason and one reason alone,” Minerva said dangerously. “That is my children. I do not care about estates and money. All I care about is Lucy and Daniel.”

Raj opened his briefcase and pulled out some papers. “These documents allow Daniel full ownership of the house, Collins Enterprises and any other property under Jay’s name. If you sign them my concern will be put to rest.”

He held them out to her. Minerva stared at them for a second before taking them from him and reading through them.

“Signing this will give you legal precedent for forcibly removing me from this house on the terms of trespassing,” Minerva said, glaring at Raj.

“I will not do that.”

“You're asking me to trust you when you don't trust me?”

“I'm asking you to put my fears to bed,” he said. “My top priority is protecting Lucy and Daniel from those who may try to take advantage of them. If that is you, so be it.”

“I will not sign this,” Minerva said, flipping through to the next page and reading it over as well.

“Min, just do it. It won't make a difference,” Daniel said. “I'm the owner of the house. I won't kick you out.”

Minerva looked at him with wide eyes. “You can't possibly believe what he’s saying about me!” she exclaimed. “I have never done anything to indicate that I was only with your father for his money!”

“I didn't say that!” Daniel said. “I would never say that. And Uncle Raj didn't say that either. He just wants to be sure.”

Minerva turned back and continued reading the documents. Daniel and Raj watched her carefully. Suddenly her eyes widened again. When she looked up her face looked furious. “You want me to give up custody of my daughter!”

“I -”

“No! How dare you!” Minerva yelled. “The house is one thing but my daughter! I will not give up custody of her!”

“Lucy is young. The money Jay left her will go to her guardian until she is eighteen as well,” Raj said. “I just want to avoid -”

“No,” Minerva said venomously. She looked over at Daniel. “I would like to talk to Raj alone. Please go get ready to leave as well.”

Daniel nodded and scrambled to his feet. He did not need to be told twice to leave this horribly tense and awkward situation. He raced out the door, closing it behind him.

When he was gone, Minerva turned back to Raj. “How dare you,” she said angrily. “How dare you imply that I am here for money. How dare you try to take my daughter away from me. I will not be signing any of these documents and I would ask you do not talk down to me in front of my children ever again.”

Raj took a deep breath and closed the briefcase in front of him. “Minerva,” he said slowly. “I would never try to take Lucy or Daniel away from you. If you sign these documents I give you my word that nothing about the arrangement you and Daniel have made here will change. My worries will simply be put to bed and we can move on.”

“Your _word_?” Minerva said. “How do you expect me to trust your word when you are trying to have me sign away custody of my daughter?!”

“I have never once given you any reason to not trust my word,” Raj said. “I have always kept my word. Can you say the same?”

“I - I promised Jay that I would return and I am here, aren’t I?” Minerva yelled. “How dare you sit in his seat and ask me to give up my children! My last connection to him!”

“I promised Jay that I would look after his children and I have been doing that! Do you know how many reporters I've had to stave off? How many times I had to make sure Daniel and Lucy actually got out of bed in the morning? How many calls I had to make to their schools? How much more responsibility I had to take at Collins Enterprises so that Daniel wouldn't feel pressured into dropping out of school and coming on?” Raj said angrily. “I never once complained or left. I am here to stay. I can't be as sure about you.”

“I am here to stay as well,” Minerva said, getting up and throwing the documents he had given her on the desk. “I have already told you how much I appreciate what you've done but I'm here now so hopefully it will be a little easier on you. I don't need you to believe me, Raj. I just need my children to trust me again. Daniel does and that should be enough for you.”

“Daniel is only eighteen. He is not in any position to make unbiased calls right now.”

“Daniel is an adult.”

She turned and headed for the door. Raj sighed and shook his head. “You broke their hearts, Minerva. I'm just trying to make sure that doesn't happen again.”

Minerva took a deep breath, pushed her tears back, and opened the door. She slammed it behind her and walked towards the stairs. She could hear Daniel, Nina and Lucy talking in the foyer as she approached.

“This coat is too big! It’s not that cold. Can't I just wear a sweater?” Lucy said.

“Nope. It is not sweater weather,” Nina replied with a laugh. “It's going to get cold on the ice. You have to wear this.”

Minerva sighed. That should be a conversation Lucy should be having with her, not Nina. She walked into the foyer and forced herself to smile. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” Daniel said, looking up at her a little uncertainly. “You okay?”

“Of course,” Minerva said, moving to the closet and grabbing her coat.

“Where’s Uncle Raj?” Lucy asked as Nina zipped up her coat and fixed the hat on her head.

“He should be coming,” Minerva said. She did her best to not sound angry but wasn't sure if it really worked. Lucy looked up at her with a frown but before she could say anything Raj came into the foyer.

“Oh good! You're all ready to go,” he said with a smile. He walked over to the closet to grab his coat as well. “Excuse me, Minerva.”

Minerva moved out the way quickly and stared at him. Raj was very good at putting on a mask when he needed to. A skill, she was sure, came in quite useful in business. Raj put on his coat, grabbed his keys and opened the door. “We’ll take my car,” he said. “Let's get going.”

Lucy raced after him and took his hand as they walked towards the car. Daniel motioned Nina and Minerva out before leaving himself and locking the door behind them.

“Don't be too hard on him,” Nina said quietly as they walked towards the car. “He cares about Lucy and Daniel a lot and sometimes says things he doesn't mean because he's trying to protect them.”

“I think he meant everything he said,” Minerva muttered. “And I think Lucy agrees with him.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Nina said. “She doesn’t even know what that means. She doesn't think about money and estates. She’s just still upset about you not being there. She’ll get over it in a few days when she sees that you’re here to stay.”

Minerva didn’t say anything. They made it to the car and Nina got into the back with Lucy. Minerva was about to follow her when Daniel stopped her.

“You can sit in the front,” he said.

“It’s alright, Daniel,” she said, giving him a small smile.

“No, I insist,” he said, moving to get into the back.

Minerva sighed and sat down in the passenger’s seat. She looked back at the kids and watched Nina help Lucy put her mittens on. She sighed and turned back to the front. Raj looked over at her with a frown. He looked back and saw what she did. He realized what she was upset over and rolled his eyes. He started the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

They made it to the park and walked over to the frozen lake. Other people were already there skating around the lake. Nina helped Lucy put on her skates and Raj took her hand to help her over to the lake.

“I’m not very good,” Lucy said as her uncle caught her before she fell.

“It just takes practice, love,” Raj said with a smile. “I’ll skate with you and then when you’re ready you can let go of my hand and try on your own.”

Lucy nodded a little uncertainly and skated shakily beside him. Minerva got on the ice and moved around a bit.

“It seems it’s a little like riding a bike,” she said. “You don’t forget.”

“Skating’s not too hard,” Daniel said. He looked over at Lucy. “I think it’s more about confidence than anything else.”

“Yes, if she wasn’t so scared of falling she would be an okay skater,” Minerva said.

“You making fun of her when she falls probably doesn’t help ease her fear,” Nina pointed out.

“I don’t make fun of her,” he said. Nina gave him a look and he laughed. “I don’t.”

“I’m more inclined to believe Nina, I’m afraid,” Minerva said.

“You too are annoying,” he said with a shake of his head. He sped up to leave them behind. Nina laughed and followed after him.

Minerva smiled and shook her head as well. She skated around for a bit before running into Lucy and Raj again. “How’s it going?”

“I can skate by myself now!” Lucy said excitedly. “Watch! Watch!”

She skated forward, still a little shakily but no longer holding Raj’s hand. Minerva smiled. “That’s wonderful, love.”

“I’m going to find Daniel and Nina,” she said as she kept going away from Minerva and Raj.

Raj kept skating behind her and Minerva debated going the other way when a group of skaters forced her to go the way of traffic.

“You’re a good skater,” Raj said, looking her over quickly. “Lucy said that you didn’t know how to skate.”

“I guess she doesn’t remember us going skating when she was younger,” Minerva said quietly.

Raj didn’t respond. They kept skating in silence for a while before Lucy stopped in front of them and looked back. She waited for Raj to come over and motioned him down. Raj leaned down so she could whisper into his ear.

“I have to go to pee,” she whispered.

“Oh,” Raj said, straightening up. He looked around a little awkwardly. “Um, well, we should find Nina.”

“What’s wrong?” Minerva asked with a frown.

“Ah... Lucy has to use the restroom,” Raj said.

“Oh,” she said, frown turning into a smile. She thought it was kind of funny how awkward Raj was acting. “Well, I can take you. Come on, Lucy.”

Lucy looked around quickly but didn’t see Nina anywhere. She sighed and took Minerva’s hand, skating with her back to their shoes. Minerva helped her change out of her skates and took her towards the bathrooms. She waited outside while Lucy used it.

“Alright, I have to use it as well,” Minerva said when Lucy came out. “Can you please wait here for me?”

Lucy nodded.

“Don’t run off. I don’t want you to get lost.”

Lucy nodded again and Minerva went into the washroom. Lucy leaned against the wall as she waited, very patiently, and looked around the small lodge. There was a kiosk selling hot chocolate in the corner. Maybe Minerva would let her buy some.

“Hello!”

Lucy looked up to see a young man with messy blonde hair looking down at her. He had a small black notebook in his hand and a pen behind his ear.

“Hi...” Lucy said uncertainly.

“Jordan Weller,” he said, sticking his hand out for her to shake. “You’re Lucy Collins, right?”

“I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” Lucy said, not moving to shake his hand. Her hands were still behind her back as she leaned against the wall.

“I’m not a stranger,” he said with a laugh, dropping his hand. “I know who you are, don’t I?”

Lucy stared at him, not really sure what to do. She had always been told not to talk to strangers but she had never really been told how to get out of talking to a stranger when her parents weren't around. She couldn't just run away, Minerva would be angry with her. She had asked Lucy to stay put and had literally used the words _don't run off_. Lucy didn't know what to do. She hoped that Minerva came back out of the bathroom soon.

“I’m a reporter for _Scope Magazine_.”

“I’m not supposed to talk to reporters either,” she said. Uncle Raj had told her not too. He said that they had no right to talk to her and that she didn't have to answer their questions. He had told her to tell him if a reporter tried to talk to her.

“Why not?”

“Because you write mean things about my dad,” Lucy said quietly.

“I’m not going to write a mean article,” Jordan said. “I’m a nice reporter. I just want to ask you a couple questions about your father and how you’re doing now.”

Lucy shook her head, tears filling her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about her father or how she was doing now. She wanted this man to leave her alone. She wished Raj was here. He would know what to do.

“It won’t take very long,” Jordan insisted, only making Lucy more upset and frustrated. She couldn't see a way out of this. “I’ll be very quick and you won’t have to answer any question you don’t want to answer. Are you and your brother back at school?”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Lucy said quickly, shaking her head violently. “I just want to go skating.”

“You’re already going out and doing fun things, this soon after the funeral?” Jordan asked.

“I - no - I don’t know,” Lucy said. Was that bad? Should she not be having fun? Was she being disrespectful to her father? The tears rolled down her cheeks and she shook her head. “Please leave me alone.”

“Don’t cry! I just wanted to ask you a couple questions,” he said quickly.

Just then the washroom door opened again and Minerva came out. She saw this man talking to Lucy, saw the tears falling down her cheeks and frowned. “What are you doing?” she asked the man angrily, stepping between him and her daughter.

Jordan looked up and said, “hi, I was just talking to Miss Collins here. It’s nothing for you to worry about, Ma’am.”

“Well, considering she’s my daughter and you’re making her upset, it is something that I need to worry about,” Minerva said. “Now, please leave before I call security.”

“You’re Mr. Collins’s wife?” Jordan said, straightening up and giving her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. “Well, I would love to talk to you as well, Ma’am. I would love to know more about you and your husband’s relationship towards the -”

“Leave. Now.”

Minerva’s voice sounded dangerous and menacing. Jordan stopped what he was doing. He looked like he was about to say something before deciding against it and turning on his heel. He walked away briskly and Minerva sighed. She crouched down in front of Lucy as Lucy wiped the tears away from her cheeks.

“I told him that I wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers,” she whispered, “but he wouldn’t leave me alone. I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad. It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” Minerva said. She said it without thinking and waited for Lucy to apprehend her for calling her that but she never did. Minerva took this as a good sign and took Lucy’s hands in hers. “Are you okay?”

Lucy nodded. “They keep trying to talk to me and Daniel,” she said. “Uncle Raj makes them go away. I’m glad he listened to you too.”

Minerva smiled a little. “They should listen to you too,” she said. “You shouldn’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to.”

Lucy nodded again.

“Alright, why don’t we get going,” Minerva said. “You want to keep skating, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Lucy said with a nod. She pointing at the kiosk selling hot chocolate. “Can - can we get hot chocolate first?”

“Of course,” Minerva said with a smile.

She straightened up and Lucy took her hand as they walked towards the kiosk. They bought hot chocolate for themselves and Daniel, Raj and Nina as well before heading back to the ice. Minerva helped Lucy get her skates back on and handed out the hot chocolates when they found everybody. Lucy told Raj what happened while she was waiting for Minerva and he frowned. He looked around quickly.

“Do you see him?” he asked. “Is he still here?”

Lucy looked around before shaking her head.

Raj sighed and looked at Minerva. “Did you get the name of the guy?” he asked. “Or the magazine he works for?”

“No,” Minerva said. “He didn’t say.”

“He told me,” Lucy said. “He said his name was Jordan Weller and that he worked for _Scope Magazine_.”

“Of course it’s _Scope_ ,” Daniel said with a frown. “They’re always writing stupid tabloid-y articles about us.”

“I’ll call them and lodge a complaint when we get home,” Raj said. He put his hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Princess. He won’t bother you again.”

Lucy nodded, hugging Raj’s legs.

They skated for a little while longer before finally deciding to head home. Nina went to the kitchen to start on dinner and Lucy went to help her. Daniel had some work to get done in his bedroom and Raj went into the living room. Minerva sat down in the kitchen, talking to Nina and Lucy as they worked before being given a job herself. She was to grab any dishes that may be hiding out in the living room. Minerva walked over to take a look when she heard Raj’s angry voice. She stopped and listened to his half of the phone conversation.

“Your reporter was completely out of line,” he said angrily. “Cornering her when she was alone. She’s a six year old girl!” There was a pause and Minerva looked through the archway to see Raj pacing around angrily. The cord of the phone prevented him from walking too far. “And I understand that... I understand how magazines work, Mr. Kelp, but what your reporter did not only violated journalistic codes but codes of average human decency. They are both still grieving. Lucy and Minerva do not need to be questioned about Jay or Collins Enterprises right now.”

Minerva was surprised that Raj was defending her. She thought he would focus on the reporter’s disrespect of Lucy.

“To talk to Lucy, Mr. Weller would have needed permission from her parent. Permission Minerva did not and will not ever give,” he said. “Especially with the way he talked to Minerva and the questions he wanted to ask her. I don’t want to see anyone of your reporters near either of them or Daniel again. Find your stories elsewhere.”

With that Raj slammed the phone down into the holster and flopped down in the couch with a sigh. Minerva entered the room. “Does that happen often?”

“Not too often anymore,” he said, massaging his temples with his fingers, “but still happens sometimes. A journalist will recognize them and become a little too eager for a story. They used to hang around just behind the gate so they could try to talk to them when they left the house.”

“That’s horrible,” Minerva said.

Raj nodded. He stood up and walked towards the door. “If something like that happens again, let me know,” he said. “I will handle it.”

He walked passed her and Minerva turned to watch him go. She was still angry with him for trying to get her to sign away custody of Lucy but she had to admit that he took good care of the children.

“Thank you, Raj,” she said quietly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said with a small shrug as he left the room. “Anything for Lucy and Daniel.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a comment telling me what you think!


	3. Easier For Them All

_**Sunday, December 21st 1997** _

"You're running low on food," Raj said, grabbing a carton of milk from the all but bare refrigerator and closing the door. He walked back to the kitchen table, sat down and picked up Lucy's glass to pour milk into it before handing it back to her and setting the carton down. She thanked him quickly before taking a big gulp. "Did Maria not send over groceries for the next two weeks?"

"I told her not too," Daniel said. "We're leaving on Tuesday, so I thought we could just order food so that things don't go bad while we're gone."

Raj nodded. "I see."

"We still need milk though," Nina said, picking up the carton and giving it a little shake. "This is almost empty and it's the last one."

"We're leaving in a few days, do we really need it?" Daniel said.

"Yes," Nina said with a frown. "How am I supposed to have my  _chai_ without milk?"

"You could drink it without milk," he suggested. She made a face and he laughed. He looked over at Minerva. "Do you take milk in your tea?"

"I do," Minerva said with a smile.

"That's now two people. And how is Lucy supposed to eat her morning cereal without milk?" Nina continued. "That's three people. We need milk."

"Fine, I'll go out into the cold and get milk," he said with a sigh.

"I can go get some before I leave for London," Raj said.

"No, that's alright," Daniel said. "I don't want you to waste your time leaving and coming back."

"Do you have to leave today, Uncle Raj?" Lucy said. "Why can't you stay one more night?"

"I think it'll be easier for me to go tonight, Princess," he said, tousling her hair a little bit. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, though she sighed. "You're coming back tomorrow, right?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I have a late phone meeting with people in China. The time difference makes meetings hard."

"Wow, a meeting with Chinese businessmen," Nina said.

"Yes," Raj said with a small smile. "I doubt it will be very exciting though. My meeting will go late and then you all leave on Tuesday so I won't come back until you all do. I'll see you as soon as you return though."

"Promise?" Lucy asked.

Raj smiled and nodded. "I promise."

"Okay," Lucy said. She looked over at Daniel. "I need stuff from the store too."

"Oh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "What do you need?"

"I need chocolate!" she said with a little smile. "Or you could just get chocolate milk! Or just one of those little chocolate Santas. I like those too."

Nina and Raj laughed but Daniel rolled his eyes. "Lucy, don't we have chocolate?"

"No, you ate it all remember," Lucy said.

"I did not."

"You did, I saw you. I saw the wrappers on the table in the living room after you watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," she said matter-of-factly.

"I remember. You were snacking on candy all through the movie," Nina said with a laugh.

"Chocolate helps the emersion of that movie," Daniel said defensively. "How can you watch Willy Wonka and the  _Chocolate_ Factory and not have chocolate with you when you do it."

Minerva smiled. She watched Lucy stick her tongue out at her brother, who just stuck his tongue out back at her. Her children were a lot older but they were still children.

"I think that if you eat all the chocolate, you should have to replace it," Lucy said, picking up her empty plate and walking towards the sink to put it down.

"Thank you, Lucy," Nina said with a smile.

"Well," Raj said, getting up and picking up his plate too. "Thank you for dinner, Nina. It was wonderful. I should really get going now."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay a little longer?" Nina said as he walked over to put his plate away and picked Lucy up, tickling her a little.

"No, I do have some work I would like to get done at home," he said.

Daniel, Nina, and Minerva got up as well and walked Raj to the door. Daniel brought his briefcase down for him and he put on his coat. He said his goodbyes and kissed Lucy on the forehead before heading out. When he was gone, Daniel began getting on his coat as well so he could go get milk.

"You coming?" he asked, looking up at Nina.

"I'll come if it makes you stop whining," Nina said with a smile.

"Great," he said smiling now.

She grabbed her coat as well and started putting it on as well. "While we're out we could get ingredients for cookies too," she said. "Instead of chocolate. What do you think, Lucy? Do you wanna make Christmas cookies?"

"Sure!" Lucy said.

"Then tonight we can eat cookies and watch Die Hard!" Daniel said.

Nina frowned. "I wanted to watch a real Christmas movie."

"Die Hard is a Christmas movie," Lucy said.

"See!" Daniel said very childishly. "It's the best Christmas movie, right Lucy?"

"Right," she said with a smile.

"Lucy, you don't have to agree with everything this idiot says," Nina said with a roll of her eyes.

"I think she does. I think those are the rules," Minerva said with a smile.

"Yes. They are," Daniel said.

"No, I just like Die Hard," Lucy said.

"I still can't believe he let you watch Die Hard," Nina said with a shake of her head. "You are not old enough to watch Die Hard."

"What is this movie rated?" Minerva asked.

"R," Nina muttered.

"It's a Christmas movie," Lucy said with a smile. "It's okay. It's tradition."

"Yes, we always watch Die Hard," Daniel said.

"How old were you when this tradition started?" Minerva asked.

"Well, Lucy didn't see it till last year but I was nine when the movie came out and I've watched it every Christmas since then," Daniel replied.

"Oh! I remember this movie now," Minerva said. "It's the policeman movie, right? With the terrorists?"

"Yes!" Daniel said.

"You let her watch it when she was five!" Minerva exclaimed, giving Daniel a shocked look.

"That's what I'm saying," Nina said.

"Hey, Lucy might have been five technically but according to the school she had the mental age of a ten year old which is a year older than I was when I watched it so it's okay," Daniel said with a smile, looking over at Lucy. "You weren't traumatized by it, were you kid?"

"No," she said. "I like Die Hard."

"Me too. It's my favourite Christmas movie," Daniel said.

"Mine too," she replied with a smile.

Minerva rolled her eyes remembering the movie. She had watched it with Jay. It had been his favourite Christmas movie too. He and Daniel had watched it every Christmas, though she did not always attend these screenings. She remembered the swearing, the guns, the explosions. She could not believe that Daniel had let his five year old sister watch this movie.

Eventually Daniel and Nina got their shoes on and headed out. Minerva made herself a cup of tea and walked into the living room where Lucy was sitting now. It was the first time she had been left alone with her mother. It felt strange still. She knew what Daniel had said about not pushing people away but she still felt awkward and weird around her mother. Lucy sat in the living room with her textbooks out. She decided that the best way to avoid conversation was to make it look like she was busy. She pulled out her homework and pretended to do it while watching TV.

"I don't know how much you'll get done with that thing on," Minerva said softly.

Lucy looked up at her and then back down at her book. "I can manage."

"Right," Minerva mumbled. She looked Lucy over. She knew that Lucy wasn't actually doing her homework. She was a teacher after all. She had encountered her fair share of students trying to pretend they were doing something when they were actually goofing off. "So, how is school going?"

"Fine."

Minerva sighed. She wanted Lucy to talk to her but she didn't really know how to get her to do so. She knew that Lucy didn't like her very much right now and she understood why but at the same time it still hurt. She decided to try again. "I work in a magic school so all the kids can do magic," she said. "A couple of years ago four students came to Hogwarts and they were the biggest troublemakers I had ever had to deal with."

Lucy looked up from her book. "What did they do?"

Minerva smiled. "So many things," she said. "One time they cast a spell on the whole castle to make everyone, students and teachers, have reindeer antlers and red noses. This was around Christmas."

Lucy smiled and put down her book. "Really?" she said, sitting up a bit and moving a little closer to her mother. "What else did they do?"

"Another time, they turned an entire corridor into a corn maze so students were getting lost trying to get to their classes," Minerva replied. "They were always out of bed at night. They didn't seem to care about any school rule. They wouldn't let a class go by without doing something, whether that be releasing a horde of pixies or setting off a bunch of fireworks or just interrupting the lecture. They were very... wild."

"Wow," Lucy said. "What were their names?"

Minerva thought about if she should tell her or not. She decided that she might as well, they weren't in school anymore anyways. "Their names were James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew," she said. "You've met them but I don't know if you remember. They were probably the most troublesome boys I've ever taught."

Lucy vaguely remembered their names. She recalled her parents talking about them but didn't really remember what they looked like. "Are they still in school?"

"No, they graduated last year," Minerva replied with a smile. "I still see them far too often though."

"Why?"

"Well, they do some work with me now so I have too," Minerva replied.

"Oh," Lucy said, looking away.

_Work that you chose over me._ Lucy didn't have to say the words for Minerva to hear them in her mind. She sighed. She wished she knew what she could say or do to make the pain of her leaving go away but she knew that there wasn't. Only time could heal this wound. She just had to get through however many days, months, or even years it might take for Lucy to fully trust her again. She wished she could skip ahead to when things were okay, back to normal again, but she couldn't. These were the consequences to the choices that Minerva had made. She couldn't blame anyone else for them. Whether she made them for the right reasons or not, the consequences of them were there for her to deal with.

Lucy threw her book down on the table and sat up properly. She looked out the window at the snow falling outside. She got up to get a closer look. "I don't want to do my homework right now," she said, resting her arms on the window sill and leaning her chin on top of them. She watched the snowflakes fall slowly outside and sighed. "I'm so bored."

"It's only been a couple minutes," Minerva said with a smile. Lucy shrugged. "Well, I can tell you more about Hogwarts if you like."

Lucy looked back at her. "I know about Hogwarts," she said. "I know that you also teach classes like Herbology and Astronomy and Potions and Charms. I don't really know what the difference between Charms and Transfigurations is though."

"Well, transfiguring something changes the object itself while a charm changes what that object does," she explained. "Charms adds something new to the object whereas a transfiguring spell changes the object into something completely new."

"That sounds cool," Lucy said. "I wish we would learn stuff like that in school. We just learn like math and stuff. The teachers go so slow! Class gets so boring. I get that other students may need more help but I don't think we need to spend like a whole week on one topic."

Minerva smiled. "Well, not everyone else has a photographic memory," she said. "You learn a lot faster than most students."

"I have to reteach Anne most of the stuff we learn in maths," Lucy said with a smile, walking back to the couch and sitting down. "She's not very good at math."

"I'm not very good at math either," Minerva said with a laugh.

"I'm pretty good," Lucy said proudly. "I'm pretty good at school, really. Other kids don't like that. They think that because I'm small I should be with the other little kids learning the alphabet or something but I took a test and it said that I belonged in this year not that one. Nina says they're just jealous but I think that maybe they're just stupid."

Minerva laughed. "Well, I think you did prove that you belong in seventh year," she said. "It doesn't really matter what the other kids think."

"Yeah..." Lucy mumbled. "I just wish... I don't know. Nevermind."

Minerva frowned. "What is it?"

"It's nothing," Lucy said quickly. "But yeah, my favourite subject is probably science or history. I like both. I wish they offered magic classes at my school. I've read a lot about Charms and Potions and Transfiguration in the magic books in the library. Charms is super easy but Transfigurations is harder. I can't try making potions though because I don't have any of the weird ingredients you need to make them."

"Transfigurations is a lot more complex than Charms. It takes a little more time to get right," Minerva said, allowing the subject change. "If you ever want help with something, I am always willing to help. I can also get you some of the more up to date textbooks that we use at Hogwarts now if you'd like."

"Really?"

"Sure," Minerva said with a smile.

"That'd be awesome," Lucy said. "Astronomy sounds really cool. I wish they offered that at my school. We're doing some space stuff later this year but I doubt we'll go into a lot of detail."

"Daniel really liked space as well, if I remember correctly," Minerva said.

"Yeah, he said he used to want to be an astronaut but then never went into it. Apparently it's really hard to become an astronaut but I bet Daniel could do it. He's awesome. He could do anything," Lucy said with a smile.

Minerva smiled too. "Yes," she said, "he probably could do anything."

"He's doing business right now, like Dad." Suddenly Lucy's smile faded away. She looked down at her hands. "He was supposed to go to America to study. He wanted to go to Harvard but he didn't because of me."

"It's not your fault," Minerva said softly. She reached out and took Lucy's hand. "Besides, if he had gone to Harvard he would never have met Nina. Then you wouldn't have met her either and that's no good, is it?"

Lucy looked back up and smiled a little. "Yeah, that's true. Nina's pretty awesome too," she said. "She used to live alone on the university campus before she basically moved here. Her flat was pretty small but she said it had character."

Minerva laughed. "Well, you have to start somewhere."

"Yeah, I guess. Now she stays here all the time but they still haven't said official that she's 'moved in'," Lucy let go of Minerva's hand and put air quotes around  _moved in_. "Apparently it's a big deal but she already stays here like every night."

"I think that officially moving in would be getting rid of her other flat, right," Minerva said.

"Maybe. I don't know," Lucy said, she said with a shrug. "Do you like teaching?"

"I do," she replied. "I like passing on what I know to the next generation."

"How long have you been teaching?"

"Twenty seven years now."

"Wow, that's older than Daniel!"

"Yes, it is," Minerva said with a smile. "I've been teaching for a very long time."

"Have you ever done anything else?"

"I used to work in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I worked there for two years before deciding that I didn't really like it and deciding to apply for a teaching position at Hogwarts."

"Wow," Lucy said. "Why didn't you like it?"

Minerva shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't a bad job. It just wasn't for me. I wasn't very happy there and the people weren't that nice, to be honest."

"They were mean?"

"Some of them were... a little, erm, high and mighty. They thought they were better than everyone else," Minerva replied with a smile. "But it's okay. Hogwarts is a lot better. Everyone at Hogwarts is very professional."

"What's your favourite subject?"

"At Hogwarts?" Minerva said. "Transfigurations, of course."

"No," Lucy said with a laugh. "I know that! I mean of the others."

"Hmm, I think potions," she said. "Though I would ask you not to tell Professor Slughorn that. He teaches portions at Hogwarts and if he found out that I said that he would never let it go."

Lucy laughed. "He really likes potions?"

"He does," Minerva said with a smile. "He also likes being right. He thinks that potions is the best subject, which it's not. Transfigurations is, of course. If he found out that I said that he would take that as evidence that he was right."

Lucy smiled. "Well, I don't know how to make potions so I can't say if one is better than the other," she said.

"Well, I can tell you Transfigurations is better," Minerva said making Lucy laugh again. Minerva smiled. "Though, there is some overlap between Transfigurations and Potions. Some procedures in Transfigurations require a knowledge in Potions."

"Like what?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm... like becoming an Animagus," Minerva said. "Do you know what that is?"

Lucy nodded. "That's when you can transform into an animal," she said. She pointed at her mother. "You can turn into a cat. I remember."

"That's right," Minerva said with a smile.

"Can you do it now?" Lucy asked excitedly. "Uncle Raj isn't here anymore so we can do magic again!"

Minerva nodded. She put down her now empty teacup and transformed into a cat. Lucy got up quickly and raced over to the armchair Minerva was sitting on.

"Wow!" she said, picking Minerva up and sitting down on the armchair. Minerva meowed in protest but Lucy ignored her. She hugged her tightly and petted her head. "I always wanted a cat but no one else did. Daniel said they're messy and they leave fur everywhere."

Minerva struggled and got out of Lucy's grip. She hopped off of her lap and turned back into a human. She gave Lucy a look as she fixed her bun. Lucy laughed.

"Do you like being petted?" Lucy asked as Minerva walked to sit down on the couch.

Minerva laughed. "Not really," she said, "but if it makes you feel better then I don't mind."

"I think," Lucy said matter-of-factly, "that you're lying and that you actually secretly like it."

Minerva gave her a look and Lucy laughed. Minerva would never admit it but she did kind of like being pet while in cat form. Only by specific people though. Lucy was okay and Daniel and Nina were probably safe but anyone else most likely would have gotten a scratch for trying to touch her.

Lucy pulled her knees up and looked over at her mother a little uncertainly. "Um, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Minerva said.

Lucy paused for a moment, debating if this was a good idea. She knew what question she wanted to ask next but she wasn't sure if she should. What if she didn't get the answer she wanted? What answer  _did_  she want? Lucy wasn't sure. She took a deep breath before deciding to just do it.

"Is this like a permanent thing?" asked Lucy. "Are you really going to stay with us forever now?"

Minerva gave her a smile. "Yes. I'm here to stay, I promise."

Lucy nodded. She wasn't sure if that's what she wanted but for some reason she did feel a little better. She slid of the chair and sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table. She pulled the textbook she had thrown on there earlier close to her and opened it up again. "I have to do my homework now," she said. "Daniel said I have to finish it before we go to Scotland."

"That's a good idea," Minerva said. She watched Lucy pull out her worksheet and start writing the answers to her questions onto it for a second before getting up, picking up her teacup and leaving for the kitchen to get herself another cup of tea.

* * *

_**Monday, December 22nd 1997** _

"Here comes the sun, do do do do

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's all right," Lucy sang quietly as she watched the clean laundry fly out of the basket Nina had brought to her room and hang themselves in her closet.

"Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here

Here comes the sun

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's all right."

Minerva heard the singing and smiled. She walked towards Lucy's bedroom. She saw the clothes flying past. "Doing your chores with magic?" Lucy was sitting on her bed. She looked up at her mother and nodded a little. Minerva smiled. "Wow, I was never able to do this kind of magic when I was your age. Most children's magic isn't that strong yet."

"I - I've been practicing," she said quietly.

"That's good," Minerva said with a smile. "May I come in?"

Lucy thought for a moment before nodding. Minerva walked into the room and sat down on the bed beside her. Lucy was looking down at her feet, not making eye contact with Minerva.

"What were you singing earlier?"

"Here Comes the Sun."

"I used to sing that to you when you were little," Minerva said. "I don't know if you remember that."

"I remember," Lucy mumbled, still not looking up.

"You have a nice voice."

"Thank you," she mumbled, playing with her fingers nervously.

Minerva sighed. She had thought that yesterday they had made a lot of progress. Nina and Daniel had come back a little while after Lucy had finished her homework and they had all gone into the kitchen to make cookies. As soon as Nina had returned Lucy had forgotten all about Minerva. She stood on the stool in the kitchen and helped Nina measure out ingredients while Minerva and Daniel sat at the kitchen counter. While they were watching the movie, Lucy had snuggled up close to Nina and afterwards it had been Nina who had put the girl to bed again. It seemed that there was no more job left for Minerva to do.

"So, are you ready to go to Castletown?" Minerva asked. "We're leaving tomorrow. Your  _nani_ , aunt, uncles and cousins are very excited to see you again."

Lucy nodded again, standing up. The clothes had finished hanging and folding themselves and now all that was left was the empty laundry basket. Lucy kicked the basket out into the hallway before pointing to her bag in the corner. "I'm already packed."

"That's good," Minerva said with a smile. "Are you excited to see everyone again?"

"I don't know," Lucy whispered, still not looking at Minerva. She shrugged and looked down at her bag.

"It's okay to be a little nervous."

Lucy looked up quickly and shook her head. She crossed her arms and said, "I'm not nervous."

"Not at all?" Minerva asked with a smile. "You don't feel even a little bit nervous?"

Lucy let her arms fall to her side and sighed. "Okay... maybe a little bit. Like the teeny, tiniest amount."

Minerva smiled. "It's okay to be nervous."

Lucy walked back to the bed but didn't sit back down. She picked up the small box that was sitting there and moved to put it away.

"What's that?" Minerva asked.

Lucy looked at it and shrugged. "My box of important things."

"Important things?" Minerva asked. "Like what?"

Lucy took a deep breath before walking back towards the bed again. "Do you want to see inside?"

"I would love to," Minerva said. "But only if you're comfortable with showing me."

Lucy nodded and hopped up on the bed. She sat down cross legged in front of Minerva and set the box down between them. Minerva copied her. Lucy slowly opened the box and looked inside. She pulled out an envelope and opened it up. Inside were a stack of postcards. She held them out for Minerva to see.

"Dad brought me a postcard from every new place he visited when he went away for work," she said softly as Minerva flipped through the postcards. She saw pictures of cities in America, France, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, China, Singapore, and many other countries.

"I remember that," Minerva said with a smile. "I'm glad you kept them all."

"I'm going to visit all these places when I'm older," Lucy said.

"That's nice," Minerva said, giving her the postcards back. Lucy put them away and then pulled out some photographs.

"That's my friend Anne," she said, handing Minerva a picture of herself and a blonde girl with blue eyes standing together in what looked like their back garden. "She's my best friend."

"She must be very nice then," Minerva said.

Lucy nodded. "She's the only one at school who actually talks to me like I'm not a baby," she mumbled. "Everyone else is mean."

"Mean?"

"Nevermind," Lucy said, taking the picture back. She handed Minerva another one. "That's my  _Dado_  with Captain America! He was a soldier and he and his friends got captured by Nazis and Captain America saved him!"

"Yes," Minerva said with a smile, looking down at the black and white photograph. Jay's father looked so much like him.

"Daniel said that we owe Captain America our lives because if he hadn't saved  _Dado_  we would never have been born!" Lucy said. "Isn't it so cool that he met Captain America?"

"Very cool," Minerva said with a smile.

Lucy took the picture back and handed her mother another. "That's me at my first dance recital," she said. "You're there too."

"Yes, I remember that night," she said. She looked at the happy faces of Lucy, Jay and herself. Daniel wasn't in the photograph because he was the one taking the picture. His little thumb over part of the lense was proof of that. "I was so proud of you. Do you still dance?"

Lucy nodded. "I got moved up in dance too," she said. "My teacher, Ms. Jade, says that I'm one of her best students."

"That's wonderful," Minerva said. "I can't wait to see your next recital. I've really missed seeing you dance."

Lucy showed Minerva a couple more photographs and then pulled out a smaller light pink box. She opened it and inside was a large bundle of letters. "These are letter that my  _Dadi_  and  _Dado_  wrote back and forth when he was fighting in the war," she said. She held them delicately, not wanting to damage them in any way. She untied the blue ribbon around them and showed her mother. "They really loved each other. They got married because they loved each other, not because their parents wanted them to. That's called an arranged marriage. Daniel said that's really rare for India, especially at the time."

"Wow," Minerva said, taking the letters from Lucy. She looked at the soft, delicate writing that must have been Marie Collins's and the bulky, all uppercase writing that must have been Jamal Collins's. She had never seen these letters before. Jay had never shown her. "Have you read them all?"

Lucy nodded. She reached over and picked two out from the bundle. "These two are funny," she said. "They're trying to decide Daddy's name."

Minerva smiled and took the letters from her. She opened one of them and read through it. Marie told her husband all about her day, life in England. She talked about her neighbours and how helpful they were with her pregnancy. Apparently she hadn't had to make dinner for herself in a very long time. Her writing was very stream of consciousness. She wrote about whatever came to mind. Finally she got to the baby's name. It took her six different names to land on Jay. She went through each name thoughtfully and very logically. Each name had its own pros and cons. Jamal's letter was almost the opposite of his wife's. His was abrupt, to the point and definitely not as flowery. It was still gentle though. Still just as loving. His thoughts were concise and he commented on everything his wife brought up. Every point she made, he acknowledged. The letters were very complementary to one another. He agreed that Jay was a great name and kept calling the baby that throughout the rest of the letter.

" _Dado_ wasn't there when Daddy was born," Lucy said quietly. "He died but  _Dadi_ didn't know." She pointed to the last few letters in the bundle. "She kept writing to him even though she didn't get anything back. She told him about Daddy and how he was doing. Then she stopped when she found out that he was dead. They gave her back her letters when they told her and the last one from him isn't finished because he never got a chance to finish writing it."

"Wow," Minerva whispered. She put the letters back in the envelopes and the envelopes back in the bundle. She wiped the tears that had crept down her cheeks away quickly before handing the letters back. "I would love to read those all, if you'd let me."

Lucy put them back in the box and looked at them a little uncertainly. "Um," she said, not looking up at Minerva. "You'd give them back?"

"Of course," Minerva said.

"And you'll take good care of them?"

"Of course."

Lucy nodded and handed Minerva the box. "Be careful," she said quietly. "They're very important. I don't want anything to happen to them."

"I'll keep them safe," Minerva said, taking the box from her gently and setting it down on the bedside table to take with her later. "Do you have anything else in there?"

Lucy pulled out a small black leather bound book. "I have Daddy's journal," she said. "He wrote everything down."

Minerva smiled and nodded. "I know," she said. "He was always writing in that thing at the end of each day."

"He wrote about me and Daniel and you and Uncle Raj and everyone at his work and even Aunt Amelia and  _Nani_ and all them too sometimes," she said. "He thinks the way you sleep on the window sill in your cat form when it's sunny is funny. He drew pictures too."

Minerva smiled and took the book from her. She felt the tears fill her eyes again as she read some of her husband's writing. She saw the small sketch he made of her laying on the window sill and smiled a little.

"I cry when I read some of that stuff too," Lucy said quietly. She moved so she was sitting beside Minerva now. She flipped the pages and stopped at a drawing of a baby in a rectangular box. "That's me."

"That's when you were first born," Minerva said with a smile. She flipped through the pages and saw more drawings of Lucy, Minerva and Daniel. There was a drawing of Raj that looked like Jay had drawn during a meeting. There was a drawing from the day Lucy had put a bunch of flowers in Minerva's hair and from the day Daniel scored the winning goal on his football team. Jay drew a lot of pictures. Nearing the end of the journal there were mostly only drawings. Each drawing was dated a day that Minerva knew he was in the hospital for. There were a couple passages here and there about Lucy or Daniel but mostly it was just drawings. He didn't mention the hospital or the treatments once. He drew pictures of flowers people had sent him or of Lucy sitting on the floor surrounded by books working hard on her homework or Daniel asleep in a chair with his head tilted back and his mouth wide open.

Minerva sighed and closed the book. She handed it back to Lucy but Lucy told her she could read it too and give it back when she was done. Minerva smiled and thanked her.

"That's everything," Lucy said, closing her box of important things. "Daniel has letters that Dad and his mum wrote to each other when she was going to school and Daddy was in London. They're a little silly too."

Minerva smiled. "I'll bet," she said. "I think they were only about eighteen or nineteen when they met."

"Did you and Daddy write any letter to each other?" Lucy asked.

"No," Minerva said with a sigh. "We weren't apart for a long period of time like that."

"Yes, you were," Lucy said with a frown.

"Oh, well, I guess we were," Minerva said. She had suddenly forgotten her two year absence. They had been apart for a long time and if they hadn't Jay may still be here now. She could imagine him snatching his notebook back and telling them off for looking at it while they laughed, showing her his parent's letters himself, collecting more postcards for Lucy, drawing more sketches of the three of them. Minerva took a deep breath and shook her head. She closed her eyes and did her best to keep the tears back. "It - it was just too dangerous for us to be sending each other letter then."

"Dangerous?" Lucy said with a frown. "Why was it dangerous? What do you mean?"

"Nothing, nothing," Minerva said quickly standing up and wiping her face. She picked up the box of envelopes and notebook before darting towards the door. "Thank you for showing me your things, darling. Please excuse me."

Before Lucy could say anything Minerva was out the door. She walked briskly across the hall and into her own bedroom, closing the door of behind her.

Lucy frowned and got up. She put her box away and walked towards the hall. She put her ear to her mother's door and heard the sound of crying. She pulled away quickly. She remembered Daniel had said that she was hurting like they were. She hadn't really believed him but now she really thought that Minerva was.

Lucy sighed and walked back to her bedroom. She really hoped that things got easier. For all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note:
> 
> Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a comment letting me know what you think!


	4. Christmas in Castletown

_**Tuesday, December 23rd 1997** _

"There we go. All done," Nina said as she finished putting the elastic around the end of Lucy's braid.

"Thank you," Lucy said, standing up from the floor and pulling the braid over her shoulder. She turned around so that she was facing Nina who was sitting on Lucy's bed.

"No problem," Nina said with a smile. "So, are you all packed and ready to go?"

"I think so," she replied. She looked at the suitcase and backpack sitting by the door to her bedroom and back at Nina. "Nina, we're going to see my grandmother and my aunts and uncles and cousins."

"Yes, we are," Nina said with a small nod.

"I haven't seen them in two years," Lucy said.

"I know," Nina said with a sigh. "It'll be nice though, won't it? You've missed them over the last two years haven't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Lucy said a little uncertainly. She leaned forward against Nina's legs and sighed. "I don't know... I just... I'm worried. I know that she said that they didn't see us because she asked them not too but... but they didn't have to listen to her. What - what if the real reason is that they don't like me anymore and they were trying to get away from me?!"

"Lucy," Nina said softly, putting a hand on her cheek and giving her a small smile. "That is not the reason. I know it's not."

"How?" Lucy asked. "How do you know?"

"I know because you are the most amazing six year old I have ever met and I can't imagine anyone meeting you and not liking you," Nina said.

Lucy sighed and leaned her forehead on Nina's. "It's happened before."

"If you're talking about the girls at school, they're just stupid," Nina said. "They wouldn't know an awesome person if it punched them in the face."

Lucy laughed a little.

"You are awesome, Lucy," Nina said, wrapping her arms around her.

"You always say that," Lucy said with a giggle.

"Because it's true," Nina said with a laugh.

Lucy hugged her and said, "you're awesome too."

"I know. Where do you think you learned all your awesomeness from? Obviously not Daniel," she said, making Lucy laugh again. She gave Lucy a little squeeze and then helped her up again. "Okay, love. We should probably head downstairs now."

"Okay," Lucy said, taking Nina's hand.

The two girls walked towards the door and grabbed Lucy's bags as they did. Lucy put her backpack on her back while Nina carried her suitcase. They went downstairs to the living room where Daniel and Minerva were waiting for them.

"Ready to go?" Daniel asked as they enter.

"Yep," Nina said, putting Lucy's bag down next to her own and Daniel's.

"Alright," Minerva said. She held up an old newspaper. "This is a Portkey. It will take us to Scotland in one minute. Lucy, do you remember how to take one?"

Lucy nodded as she walked over to Daniel. Daniel picked her up and she wrapped one arm around his neck and grabbed part of the newspaper with the other. Daniel took part of the paper in his hand as well. Minerva motioned Nina over.

"All you have to do is hold on tight," Minerva told her. "It may be a little rough."

"A little is an understatement," Daniel said as Nina held onto the newspaper.

"Great," Nina said. This was the exact reason she hated planes. She looked back at their suitcases. "What about the bags?"

Minerva waved her wand and the bags disappeared. "They will be at my mother's house waiting for us," she said. She checked her watch. "Okay, hold on tightly. Three... two... on-"

All of a sudden the room around them began to spin out of existence. They felt like they were being pulled from the back by a fishing line. Lucy held onto Daniel as hard as she could but she could feel her fingers slipping. Nina felt like her stomach was doing backflips. This was so much worse than flying. Why had she agreed to this? Finally they landed in snow at the outskirts of Isobel McGonagall's property in Castletown, Scotland.

"Oh my god, that was terrible," Nina said as she got up and brushed the snow off her. She looked over to where Daniel was helping Lucy up. "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, we're good," Daniel said. "Like I said, a little rough is definitely an understatement." He helped Lucy up to her feet and picked her up again. "How you feel, kid?"

"I'm okay," Lucy said. She looked over at her mother who was standing perfectly fine a little ways away. She hadn't fallen and gotten snow all over her clothes like she, Daniel, and Nina did. "You look okay."

Minerva smiled. "I think you have to get used to it. I've taken my fair share of Portkey but I think the two of you are out of practice," she said.

"Out of practice," Daniel mumbled with a shake of his head. They hadn't taken many Portkeys when Minerva was with them anyways because of the war. It was difficult to get and before Lucy was born, the three of them could just side-along Apparate. Adding a fourth person is what made it difficult.

"Alright, shall we get going?" Minerva said.

They nodded and followed Minerva down the path towards the large manor on the property. Daniel put Lucy down and took her hand instead as they walked.

"You okay?" he whispered as they walked.

Lucy nodded. She knew he wasn't just asking about the portkey this time.

They made it to the front door and Minerva knocked. Lucy suddenly felt really scared. She moved closer to Daniel, almost behind him at this point. He looked down at her and smiled. He gave her hand a little squeeze. The door swung open and Isobel McGonagall stood on the other side. She was tall and beautiful with silver hair and barely any wrinkles. She smiled when she saw her daughter.

"Oh my, come in. Come in, quickly. It is so cold," she said, ushering them all inside. When they went in Isobel walked towards Daniel and pulled him into a hug. "Look at you! You look so much older than I remember, my love," she said. "How are you? How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay," he said, letting go of Lucy's hand so that he could hug Isobel with both of his arms. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," she said, pulling away a little bit. She placed her hand on his cheek and gave him a little smile. "It's you two I'm worried about. Are you sure you're alright, Daniel? If you need anything, anything at all -"

"We're okay," Daniel said with a smile.

"You look so much like your father," she whispered, leaning up and kissing his cheek. "I am so sorry for not being there when you needed me. So, so sorry."

"That's not your fault."

Isobel sighed. She didn't know about that. It definitely felt like it was partly her to blame. She gave Daniel's cheek a little pat and then kneeled down and smiled at Lucy. "You have also grown so much since the last time I saw you," she said, pulling Lucy into a hug too. "I missed you both so much."

Suddenly all of Lucy's anger was gone. It dissipated. All she felt was warmth. She felt safe and at home. She smelt Isobel's perfume and felt her hair on her cheek and suddenly it felt like how things used to be. She felt like nothing could hurt her here. Her awkwardness, her nervousness were all gone. Lucy was confident that her grandmother loved her and she loved her too. This was exactly what she had wanted. These past two years this was all she had ever wanted. Tears filled her eyes and she wrapped her arms around her grandmother's neck. She wanted to never let go

"I missed you too," she whispered.

"Oh, darling," Isobel said, picking her up into her arms and standing up. Tears filled her own eyes as she looked down at her granddaughter. "You are so strong, Lucy. I am so proud of you for how strong you've been."

Lucy just buried her face in the crook of Isobel's neck and held her tighter. Isobel put a hand on the back of her head. She kissed her temple before looking over at Minerva. She walked over to her and hugged her too.

"How are you, love?" she whispered, kissing her cheek.

"I'm alright," Minerva said, though she wasn't sure how true that statement was anymore. She looked at Lucy and sighed.

"Ah..." Daniel said when Isobel and Minerva pulled apart. "Isobel -"

Isobel's eyes widened a little before going back to normal. Daniel just called her by her first name. He never did that. He always called her  _Nani_. Was this because he was older now or because she was gone for so long? Did he no longer consider her his family?

"- this is my girlfriend, Nina Chaudhry," he continued, apparently oblivious to what he had just done.

"Hello," Nina said with a smile, holding her hand out for Isobel to shake. "It is nice to finally meet you."

"You as well, Nina. I was excited to meet you when Minerva told me you were coming in her letter," Isobel said with a small smile, shaking Nina's hand. "Why don't you all take off your shoes and coat and we'll go sit down in the living room. I can start a fire in the fireplace to warm us up a bit. You four are the first to arrive."

They nodded and started taking off their shoes and coats. Isobel put Lucy down on the ground and helped her do the same. She gave Lucy a little smile.

"I'm glad you remember me," she said. "I was a little worried that you would have forgotten all about me. You were quite young the last time we saw each other."

Lucy shook her head. "I remember you."

Isobel smiled. Daniel took Lucy's coat from her and Isobel picked Lucy up again. She led the way to the living room and with a flick of her wand a fire started going in the fireplace. They all sat down on the couches and chairs, Lucy stayed in Isobel's lap. Isobel didn't mind at all. She was glad that at least Lucy forgave her.

Isobel flicked her wand again and a tea tray came flying from the kitchen. It set itself down on the table and the teapot started pouring itself into four cups. The milk and sugar went into two of the cups the way Isobel and Minerva liked it but waited on Daniel and Nina to tell Isobel how they liked their tea before going into their cups as well. The cups flew to their respective guest and the cookie tray flew over to Lucy first. Lucy took a cookie and it flew over to Daniel and Nina next, then to Minerva, and then back to the table.

"So, tell me all about you," Isobel said, looking up at Daniel. "What's happened in the last two years that I need to know about? You graduated, yes?"

"Yes," Daniel said with a nod, taking a sip of his tea. "I graduated secondary school. Now I'm studying business at the University of Kent. It's where I met Nina."

"That's wonderful," Isobel said with a smile. "What are you studying, dear?"

"Nursing," Nina said.

"Excellent," Isobel said with a smile. "And how long have you two been seeing each other for?"

"Three months now," Nina said with a smile.

"That's exciting," Isobel said. She looked down at Lucy. "And what about you, my dear? What year are you in now? Two?"

Lucy shook her head. "I'm in year seven."

"Year seven?" Isobel repeated.

"Lucy took a placement test last year that placed her five years ahead of her grade," Minerva explained with a smile. "So, she's skipped most all of primary school now."

"That's wonderful!" Isobel said. "I always knew you were very smart."

Lucy smiled a little. "Really?"

"Of course," Isobel said. "I used to take care of you on Fridays when your nanny, Christie, couldn't and I saw how smart you were. I told your mother from the very beginning that you were going to do great things. Didn't I, Minerva?"

"You did," Minerva said.

Just then there was another knock on the front door. Isobel smiled and put Lucy down on the ground. "Oh, that's probably one of your uncles. Please excuse me."

Lucy watched Isobel stand up and leave the room before walking over to Daniel. He smiled at her as she climbed up on the couch beside him. Isobel returned a few moments later accompanied by a man, a woman, and a teenage girl. The man had short, dark brown hair and the same blue eyes that Isobel and Minerva had. The woman had long brown hair that she had tied up in a high ponytail. She smiled warmly at Minerva and gave her a hug. The teenager looked a lot like her mother and she also hugged her aunt. The man was the first to notice the three others in the room. A huge smile spread across his lips as he strode towards them.

"Lucy! Daniel!" he said happily. Daniel stood up and tried to shake his hand but Robert stopped him and pulled him into a hug instead. "It's so wonderful to see you two again. We heard what happened and we're so sorry we weren't there."

"It's alright," Daniel said, hugging his uncle back. "It's nice to see you again, Robert."

He stopped for a second before letting it go and picking Lucy up off the couch. "Look at you! You're so old now!" he said. "I almost can't pick you up anymore!"

Lucy giggled as he tossed her up and down a bit. Minerva frowned. "Be careful, Robert."

"I'm always careful," he said with a smile though he stopped. He hugged Lucy tightly as Rosalin moved to hug and greet Daniel. "You haven't forgotten us have you, kiddo?"

Lucy shook her head. "I remember you and Aunt Rosalin and Lina."

"Lina?" Nina said with a smile. "I'm Nina."

"That's funny," Lina said with a smile. "We just have one letter difference in our names. It's nice to meet you, Nina."

"You as well," Nina said with smile.

Rosalin came over and took Lucy from her husband. "Hello, love," she said with a smile, kissing her on the cheek. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Lucy said.

They all sat back down and Malcolm and his wife, Daisy, came next with their younger son, Flynn. Flynn was back from Ireland where he worked with dragons. He excitedly told everyone all about the Irish Dragon Reservation and what they were having him do there. Lando, Malcolm's elder son, came in from Edinburgh a little later. They all happily greeted Lucy, Daniel and Nina. With the cousins it wasn't as hard. Daniel didn't hold them responsible for what their parents did. He was happy to see them all. They were all so much older than they had been and it was nice to see them again. He was surprised to see how old Lina looked and how muscular Flynn had gotten. Lando in all honesty looked very much the same.

Everyone sat in the living room and talked. They hadn't seen each other in quite some time and so finally now they were able to catch up. Lucy, who had moved so that Malcolm would have a place to sit, was now sitting on the floor in front of Nina. Malcolm had tried to tell her that it was okay but she didn't listen. Lucy listened to the adults talk but got bored right away. She squirmed around a bit and played with her hair. All she wanted to do was explore this giant house and see how much it had changed or play outside or read her books. She didn't want to sit here and listen to the adults talk anymore.

Finally Lando also got bored of sitting around with the adults and suggested that the kids leave them to talk. He led his cousins out of the sitting room and into the kitchen where they sat down at a large table. Lucy sat down between Nina and Flynn. Nina got along great with all of the cousins but that wasn't really a surprise. They talked and caught up. They had a lot to talk about, two years to cover. Lucy listened to them talk more before she got bored of this as well. She slid off her chair, claiming she had to go to the washroom, and left the kitchen. She walked through the hallway and looked at the pictures and knick knacks on the walls and shelves. They were all the same ones from two years ago. She didn't think that her grandmother liked change very much. Lucy picked up some of the little knick knacks and looked them over but didn't find anything too exciting.

Lucy saw something shiny lying on the ground and walked over to it. It as a small gold bracelet. Lucy picked it up and turned it over in her hands. She figured someone must have dropped it. She walked towards the living room where the adults were sitting. Pausing at the doorway, she debated whether or not she should interrupt them. She took a deep breath and stuck her head through the door. They didn't seem to notice her. She walked quietly towards her grandmother. When they did finally notice her they stopped talking and watched her stop in front of Isobel.

Lucy took Isobel's hand and turned it over to put the bracelet inside. "I think someone dropped this," she whispered.

"Oh, okay," Isobel said with a smile. "Thank you for giving it to me. I'll make sure to give it back to its rightful owner."

Lucy nodded and then ran from the room. Malcolm smiled. "She's still very well mannered."

"Yes she is," Daisy said with a smile. "I mean, she stood up and offered you her seat when we first came in. Our own son was busy sitting comfortably to worry about his father."

"Flynn was just excited to tell everyone about Ireland," Robert said with a laugh. "Though, Lina also didn't think to offer up her seat."

"Offering up your seat to someone older than you is a very big thing in Indian culture," Minerva said. "If there were no seats available for me or her father or Daniel, she would always get up."

"It's a good habit," Isobel said with a smile. She held up the bracelet Lucy gave her. "Did one of you drop this? She said she found it."

"Oh, wonderful," Rosalin said, reaching over for it. "I hadn't even realized I'd lost it."

"You're lucky Lucy is here," Daisy said. She looked over at Minerva and sighed. "How long has it been since Jay passed?"

"About three week," Minerva said, looking down at her teacup.

"How are you holding up?" Malcolm asked.

"I'm fine," she said though she didn't really sound fine. Suddenly Minerva was hit with a wave of deja vu. She'd been here before. She'd sat here with these people and mourned the death of her husband before. Why did this keep happening?

Isobel reached out and put a hand on Minerva's arm. Minerva looked up at her and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine, really," she said. "It's Lucy that I'm worried about. She used to be so... happy and curious and energetic. She used to run around and get distracted by everything. Now she's quiet and just sits around."

"It'll take some time, of course, but I'm sure she'll be back to normal soon," Daisy said. "She'll be running around here acting like her crazy little self soon enough."

"And your back now," Robert said. "That will probably help."

"I don't know how much it's helping," Minerva mumbled. "She still doesn't trust me."

"Give it time, Minerva," Malcolm said. "Soon she and Daniel will trust us all again."

"And maybe he'll start calling me  _Nani_  again," Isobel said with a sigh. "And you all aunt and uncle again."

"I don't think he's doing it on purpose to get back at us," Malcolm said.

"No, I don't think he thinks like that," Rosalin said. "He's older, it's been two years. It just probably doesn't feel natural anymore. Maybe in time he'll go back to it."

"I wouldn't fault him for being angry with us," Robert said with a sigh. "He had to go through all that hospital stuff all on his own. That could definitely make someone resentful."

"He wasn't alone," Minerva said. "Raj helped out a lot. He took care of all the legal and hospital stuff. He managed Collins Enterprises and took care of them when Jay and I couldn't. Jay's assistant, Maria, also did a lot. She gets them groceries and meals if they need them. She's stayed on as Daniel's assistant now and takes care of anything that may come up at Collins Enterprises that he may need to deal with for him."

"That's very nice of the both of them," Isobel said.

Minerva nodded. "I don't think that I'm Raj's favourite person right now," she said. "He's said some horrible things but I don't really blame him for it. He's just trying to take care of Daniel and Lucy. I just wish he would be a little more supportive. I think if Lucy saw him forgive me she would be more inclined to do so too."

"I'm sure he'll come around," Robert said. "I remember him being a very stand up guy."

"He's done so much. He stays with them a couple nights out of the week, makes sure they have everything they need for school, takes care of the complicated money stuff," she said. "Daniel told me that before I came back and they found out that Jay was not going to make it, he offered to take custody of Lucy for him so that he could focus on school and live his life without worrying about having to take care of her. Daniel didn't want that though. He said that staying in Rochester and keeping a little bit of consistency would be better for Lucy."

"They are both amazing," Rosalin said.

"I hope I see Raj soon so I can thank him personally," Isobel said. "He's definitely a godsend."

Minerva nodded. She wasn't sure that Isobel would have much luck with Raj either though.

"So, anyways," Minerva said. "How was Germany, Mother? How was traveling with Rufus Scrimgeour?"

"Terrible as you predicted," Isobel said with a sigh. "He was absolutely dreadful to work with. I don't think that man has a humorous bone in his entire body. All work, work, work. Didn't even want to let me see Berlin at all. It was the first time I'd gone and he wanted me inside that stuffy office all day and night. I was able to sneak off and see the sights every now and then as well. A couple other women who worked in the German Ministry took me around. It was nice having a translator though most Germans can speak English."

"That's nice," Daisy said. "I'm glad you were able to get away. I've heard tales of the strict, no fun Rufus Scrimgeour."

"It's all true, I'm afraid," Isobel said with a laugh. "A funny thing did happen though when I came home. There was a big hole in my door! It looked like someone had tried to break it down. I'm guessing it was a teenager from in town. They come up here every now and then on drunken shenanigans."

"Oh, that wasn't a teenager from town," Minerva said. "That was Daniel."

"Daniel?"

Minerva nodded. "Near the end of Jay's life after the lung transplant didn't work, Daniel tried to find one of us," she explained. "He didn't know how to find us. He didn't know how to get a letter to me and I guess he didn't know that you two had a phone in your homes but he knew where you lived, Mother. While you were gone he flew up here to try to find you, hoping you would help. He got angry when you weren't and accidentally punched a hole through your door. He found out later from someone down in town that you had been gone for months now."

"Oh," Isobel said, smile falling. She felt absolutely horrible. Daniel had come looking for her and she hadn't been there. If she had been here she could had a healer look at Jay. She could have done something. Maybe... maybe Jay would still be alive if it wasn't for her. She should never have gone to Germany! "I - I..."

"It's okay," Minerva said softly. It was now her turn to put a hand on Isobel's arm. "It's not your fault."

Isobel wasn't too sure about that. She looked away as tears filled her eyes. She had let Daniel, Lucy, and Jay down. She could have done something but she wasn't here.

Nobody spoke for a very long time. They drank their tea in silence and thought about how different things would have been if they had made it easier for Daniel to find them if he needed help. They all felt responsible. It was all their faults.

...

Minerva entered Lucy's bedroom and found it was freezing cold inside. She looked around and saw Lucy sitting at the bay window. The window was wide open and she was leaning out of it, looking out at the back garden. Minerva smiled. "It's freezing in here."

Lucy looked up and shrugged.

"What are you doing?" Minerva asked, coming over and sitting beside her. She saw the goosebumps on her little arms and frowned.

Lucy pointed out the window and said, "Looking at the ocean."

"I see," she replied, looking out at the beach close by. "When I was little, I used to sit here on my bay window and look out at the water too."

"You lived here your whole life?" Lucy asked, looking up at her.

"Well, until I was eighteen," Minerva replied. "Then I moved to London for work but I deeply missed this place, I must say."

"It is nice," Lucy said. "There's no ocean in London."

"No there isn't," Minerva said with a smile. "So, did you have a nice night? Sleep okay?" Lucy nodded. "Did Nina sleep here with you?"

Lucy nodded again. "She gets worried."

"Oh?"

Lucy looked over at her and furrowed her brow. She crossed her arms and said, "I don't need her here if that's what you think. I can sleep on my own."

"Of course," Minerva said with a smile.

Lucy looked away quickly and whispered, "I was a little scared so she stayed with me."

"That's okay. There is no reason to be ashamed of that," she said, putting a hand on Lucy's arms.

Lucy nodded.

"So, how are you liking it here?" Minerva asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Good," Lucy said. "I missed everyone. Daddy said that we couldn't come here for Christmas because  _Nani_  was traveling and then last Christmas we went to Spain and America over Christmas break."

"How was that?" Minerva asked.

"It was fun. Daddy had some meetings in Madrid and New York City so he decided to take us with him," she said. "We had Christmas in Madrid and it was fun. The hotel room was huge and the Christmas tree was really pretty but we didn't get to decorate it ourselves and I kind of missed England. It didn't snow very much in Madrid."

"Christmas needs snow," Minerva said.

Lucy nodded. "I missed it here," she said, looking back out at the ocean. "Scotland's nice too."

"It is."

"But now it feels different," she said.

"Like something's missing?"

Lucy nodded slowly. Minerva sighed and put a hand in her shoulder.

"I know," she said. "I feel it too."

"It still doesn't really feel like Christmas," she said. "I don't think it ever will."

"It just takes time, love," Minerva said. She looked back outside as well and saw it was starting to snow. The winds pushed the snow inside the window but Lucy didn't seem to notice or care. She watched the rough waves crash against the shore.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Lucy suddenly.

"Of course," Minerva said with a smile.

"Um, well," Lucy mumbled. "Everyone seems... sad. Like they're happy but at the same time they're sad. And the other day you said it was dangerous now. How come?"

Minerva took a deep breath. She thought about what to tell Lucy. She couldn't just tell her that there was a war going on that had killed thousands of people and was devastating what was left of the wizard community in the United Kingdom. That slowly people were beginning to lose hope. Lucy wouldn't understand and Minerva didn't want her to. She didn't want her daughter to worry about these things. Lucy had enough to worry about right now without Minerva adding to it. "Times are a little tough right now, love," Minerva said instead. "But it's nothing to worry about. Things will get better. They always do."

"I don't know if they do," Lucy whispered, looking away from her mother again.

"They do, sweetheart," Minerva said, moving a little closer to her daughter. She put an arm around Lucy and pulled her closer. She felt how cold her body was and wanted to warm her up as much as she could. She wished there was a way for her to take all of Lucy's pain away right here, right now but there wasn't an easy fix for this. "It'll get better. For all of us. It just takes time."

There was silence for a long time. Finally Lucy turned back to her mother with a small smile on her face. She leaned her head on Minerva's side and whispered, "I'm glad you're back."

Minerva smiled. This was all that she had wanted Lucy to say in the past few days. These four little words filled her with so much happiness. Lucy was finally letting her in. Minerva gave her a little squeeze and said, "I'm glad I'm back too. I missed you and Daniel so much."

"Please don't leave again," she whispered, moving to hug Minerva's chest and burying her head in her side.

"I won't, darling," Minerva said, stroking Lucy's hair.

"What about when your school starts again?"

"I will be home every night," Minerva promised her. "Don't worry, I'll be home when you get home."

"Okay," Lucy said looking up with a small smile. "Maybe you can meet my friend Anne. She's really nice and she likes all the same things that I like. Well, maybe not all the things but that's okay."

Minerva laughed. "Well, I can't wait to meet her," she said. "Now, your fingers are frozen solid. Let's close this window and go see what everyone else is doing."

"Okay," Lucy said with a smile, pulling away from her mother and standing up on her knees to pull the window down. Minerva smiled when she wasn't strong enough to pull it down. Minerva helped her close the window and then pulled out her wand and pointed it at Lucy.

Suddenly Lucy felt warmth spread through her whole body. "Wow," she said, looking down at her fingers that no longer felt like they were going to fall off. "I feel warm."

Minerva smiled and pulled her back into a hug. She kissed her cheek and pulled her off the couch. Lucy giggled as her mother carried her out of the room.

* * *

_**Wednesday, December 24th 1997** _

"So, do you remember much of Hogwarts?" Lina asked. She and Lucy were sitting on the couch in the living room talking about how much life had changed in the past two years. Lucy had missed talking to Lina. She used to be the cousin Lucy was the closest with.

"Not really," she said. "Even when Mum was here we didn't go to Hogwarts very often. I think I was really little when I went last. I don't remember much about it but I've read a lot about Hogwarts in books and stuff."

"You should come visit," Lina said. "Hogwarts is a lot better than any book can make it seem. It's just so... magical. You can feel it in the atmosphere there."

"I hope I can visit," Lucy said. "I would love to go back to Hogwarts."

"And you can always come when you're eleven," Lina said with a smile. "I'll be gone by then though."

"Do you know what you want to do after school?" Lucy asked.

"Not really. I haven't really decided yet. I'm supposed to have a meeting this year with your mum to discuss it," she said.

"Really? Why my mum?"

"She's my head of house. I'm in Gryffindor and she's the Head of Gryffindor House," Lina said. "In fifth year all the students have to go to a career advisory meeting with their head of house. I still haven't decided what I want to talk about with her though."

"Oh, I see," Lucy said. "How can you -"

"Lucy!" Nina's voice came through the room. She was coming down the stairs towards the living room.

"Yes?" Lucy asked, looking over at her.

"Dinner tonight is supposed to be fancy," Nina said, coming into the living room and speaking at a normal volume again. " _Oopar aaja_.  _Hum apane kupada_ -"

" _Nahi, main_ dress _pahanana nahin chaahati_ ," Lucy replied, crossing her arms.

Lina looked between Lucy and Nina. She had no idea what they were saying to each other. She remembered things like this happening before. Sometimes Lucy and Daniel would start talking in Hindi to one another when they didn't want the others to know what they were saying or Jay would talk to Lucy and Daniel in Hindi.

Nina frowned and crossed her arms too. She said, " _Aap ise pahanenge agar aap khaana ke lie aana chaahate hain._ "

" _To Main khaane ke lie nahin aaegi._ "

" _Aap_  Christmas Eve  _ke khaan_ e par nahi aane?

" _Ji_."

"Um," Lina mumbled. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Lucy replied, looking back at her.

"Okay, Lucy," Nina said, glaring at the little girl. "Fine. I'll go get Minerva or Daniel."

She waited for Lucy to protest but she didn't. The two girls stared at each other for a long time before Nina groaned and looked away. Lucy smiled. She had won their glaring contest. Nina stormed out of the room angrily.

"Maybe you should just do what she wants," Lina said with a laugh, watching her go.

"No, it's okay," Lucy said. "Um, so you have class with my mum, right?"

"Yeah," Lina said with a smile. "She teaches me transfigurations, but..." Lina looks around and lowered her voice. "She's kind of scary at school."

Lucy laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah, she's kind of strict and a very, um, no-funny-business type of teacher," Lina replied with a laugh.

"I could see that," Lucy said with a laugh. "When I was little, she -"

"What are you two talking about?" Minerva asked as she entered the living room, making both girls jump. They looked over at her and smiled innocently.

"Nothing," they said together.

Minerva raised an eyebrow at them but neither of them elaborated. "Alright... well," she said, "Lucy, Nina is waiting for you upstairs. You better hurry, we'll be having dinner soon."

"Um, I already told Nina -"

"I know what you told her," Minerva replied in her strict teacher voice, "but I am giving you the chance to reconsider your decision and you can do that upstairs." She held out her hand for Lucy to take. "Come along now."

Lucy sighed. She stared at Minerva for a second before giving in and getting up grumpily. Minerva was glad that there were still some things that Nina couldn't do. Things that Lucy still needed her mother for. Lucy took her hand and looked back at Lina. "See you."

"See you, Lucy," Lina said with a smile.

"Oh, Lina," Minerva said, looking back at her niece. "Your mother is looking for you as well. She would like your help in the kitchen."

"Okay," Lina said, getting up and walking towards the kitchen.

Minerva looked down at Lucy who still looked very grumpy. She smiled and shook her head before leading her up the stairs towards her bedroom where Nina was waiting. Nina was sitting on the bed putting on some earrings when Lucy and Minerva walked in. She looked up and smiled. "You've changed your mind."

"No," Lucy said, letting go of her mother's hand and walking over to Nina. She hopped up on the bed beside her and crossed her arms again. "Nina.  _Main nahin pahanana chaahati._ "

Nina smiled. " _Mujhe pata hai_ ," she said. "Please just wear it for your  _nani_. You'll look nice and it will make Isobel happy, won't it?"

Minerva wished she understood what Nina and Lucy were saying when they spoke to each other in Hindi. She always had this problem with Jay as well but he usually translated for her. She had picked up some words and given more time she could probably learn the language but she had always been a little preoccupied. She walked over to a chair where the dress Nina wanted Lucy to wear was laying. It was a simple dress with a black top and a dark red skirt. Minerva brought it over to the bed. Lucy looked at it and made a face.

"Lucy, why do you hate dresses? You wear them all the time for dance," Nina said with a sigh when Lucy still refused to put it on. "Everyone is going to be wearing one. Me, your mum, Lina, everyone."

Lucy shrugged and Minerva laid out the dress on the bed beside her. "It is a lovely dress," she said. "It'll look nice on you."

"It looks like  _tattee_ ," Lucy mumbled quietly. Minerva had never heard this word before.

"Hey, watch the language," Nina said with a shake of her head though she did smile. She nudged Lucy a little with her elbow. Lucy smiled a little, getting the reaction that she wanted. Minerva raised her eyebrow, not knowing what exactly Lucy said. Nina sighed. "Okay. How about this, if you put on the dress I won't tell everyone at dinner what happened with Anne a couple of weeks ago."

Lucy looked at her. "What happened with Anne?"

Nina looked at Minerva and then back at Lucy with a sly smile. "Oh you know, the chocolate pudding incident..."

Lucy stood up immediately and grabbed the dress. She walks towards the bathroom. "I'll wear the stupid dress."

Nina and Minerva laughed as Lucy closed the door behind her. Minerva looked at Nina. "What did she say the dress looked like?"

"She said it looked like shit," Nina said with a laugh.

"This whole knowing another language thing is going to make it hard on me isn't it?" Minerva asked with a shake of her head. "Maybe I should learn."

"You should," Nina said. "Do you speak any other language?"

"French but that's it," she replied. "A little bit of Latin but I don't really count that."

"Oh, I speak French too," Nina said.

"Really? So, you speak three languages?"

"Yep, learning a second language was a big thing in the school curriculum here," Nina said. "So I did French and then decided to continue it in university. And of course I knew Hindi already because that's what my parents speak."

"Where do your parents live?"

"They live in India," Nina replied. "They used to live here when I was in secondary school but decided to move back to India when I started going to University. All my family is there so it's nice for them to be with my grandparents and aunts and uncles."

"So are you going to go back as well?"

"Oh no," Nina said with a laugh, shaking her head. "No, India is great but I don't want to live there. I like it here in the UK, besides I doubt Daniel and Lucy would like to move to India with me."

Minerva smiled. "I don't know," she said. "I feel like Daniel would go anywhere for you."

"Well, I wouldn't ask him to anyway," Nina said with a shy smile. "Honestly, sometimes I think Daniel is too nice. He needs to think about himself a little bit more."

Minerva was about to say something when the bathroom door opened again and Lucy came out in the dress. She walked over to Nina and turned around, pulling her hair over her shoulder so it was out of the way. "Can you zipper it?"

"Of course," Nina said, reaching over and doing up the zipper for her. "See you look great!"

"Eh," Lucy said with a shrug.

Nina rolled her eyes and pulled Lucy up onto the bed. "Okay, you little brat," she said making Lucy laugh, "how should we do your hair today?"

"How are you doing your hair?" Lucy asked.

"Hmm... I was thinking maybe a half clipped back and half down thing," Nina replied, picking up a hand mirror from the bedside table and looking at herself in it. She handed it to Lucy. "What do you think?"

"I think that'll look nice," Lucy said, looking at herself in the mirror too. She moved it up so that she could see Nina through it and smiled. "I wanna do it too."

"Okay, sounds good, we can be like twins," Nina said with a laugh, picking up the hairbrush and brushing it through Lucy's hair.

"And I want to wear earrings too," Lucy said.

"You have your ears pierced?" Minerva asked a little shocked.

Lucy nodded. "Daddy let me get them done when I was four," she said, holding up four fingers for Minerva to see.

"Four?" Minerva muttered, furrowing her brow at Lucy. She couldn't believe that Jay would let Lucy do that. "That's so young..."

Nina smiled. "It's not that bad. I mean I got mine done when I was a baby. It's kind of an Indian thing I think," she said, clipping back Lucy's hair. She stood up from the bed and walked over to her bag. She brought it over to the bed. Pulling out small red studs, she said, "How about these ones? They match your dress."

"Okay," Lucy said. She took the earrings from Nina and pulled her old earrings out of her ear. She handed these ones over to Nina. "Keep them safe."

"I will," Nina said with a smile. "Are these real gold?"

"Yep," Lucy said. "Daddy gave them to me so I have to keep them safe."

"Okay, I'll put them in here," Nina said, pointing out a side pocket on her bag. "Do you want to wear a necklace too?"

"Okay."

"So you don't like dresses but you're okay with jewellery?" Minerva asked with a smile.

Lucy smiled. "Yep."

Minerva shook her head but smiled. Nina pulled out a necklace with a red pendant that matched the earrings Lucy was wearing. She moved back to sitting behind Lucy on the bed and put the necklace around her neck. She clasped it in the back and said, "there you go, my love."

"Thank you, Nina!" Lucy said happily.

Minerva left to get changed while Nina did her own hair. When Minerva returned to the room Nina was doing her makeup while Lucy jumped on the bed watching her. "I don't know how your grandmother would feel about you jumping on the bed."

Lucy stopped immediately and looked at her mother with wide eyes. "Would she be mad?"

Minerva smiled. "No, I'm only joking."

"Oh, okay," Lucy said with a smile as she started jumping again. Nina looked over and laughed. Lucy looked back over at her and watched her brush a little bit of red powder lightly across her cheekbones. "Maybe I should do makeup too."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nina said with a smile, looking at her through the mirror. "You'll start to look so much older."

Minerva walked over to the bed and sat down. She reached over and grabbed Lucy by the arm. Lucy laughed and flopped down beside her mother. "You don't need makeup," she said with a smile. "So, Christmas is tomorrow, are you excited?"

Lucy shrugged. "Do we have to go to church?" she asked, making a face. "I don't want to wake up early to go to church."

"Well, we usually go to church," Minerva said. "It makes  _Nani_  and Uncle Malcolm happy but this year we can't go down into town so we won't be going to church."

"How come?" Lucy asked.

Just then the door opened and Daniel came in wearing a dress shirt and trousers, saving Minerva from answering Lucy's question. He smiled when he saw Lucy. "You wore the dress, that's good," he said. "I was a little worried I'd come in here and find you still whining about not wanting to wear it."

Lucy stuck her tongue out at Daniel and he laughed. He walked up to his girlfriend and hugged her from behind. "You look beautiful."

"Why thank you," Nina said with a smile.

"You guys need to get a room," Lucy mumbled.

Minerva laughed. She stood up from the bed and held her hand out for Lucy. "Why don't we go downstairs and let them finish getting ready?" she said. "I'm sure the others are heading down too."

"Okay," Lucy said, jumping down from the bed and taking her mother's hand. She looked over at Daniel and Nina.

"Don't worry, kid," Daniel said with a smile, still hugging Nina from behind. "We'll be down in a minute."

Lucy nodded and pulled her mother towards the door by the hand. Minerva smiled and followed. They walked down the stairs and into the dining room. Isobel, Malcolm, Robert and Daisy were already sitting down. When they entered Isobel smiled at Lucy. "Oh, don't you look lovely!" she said, opening her arms and motioning Lucy over. "I sorely missed having a little girl running around this house. Come sit next to me, darling."

Lucy let go of her mother's hand and sat down on the chair next to her grandmother. Minerva sat down on the other side of Lucy. Flynn and Lando came in next and took their seats. Then Daniel and Nina and then finally Rosalin and Lina. Malcolm led the grace. Lucy kept looking up over at Daniel during it. Daniel gave her a small smile. Nina wasn't really sure what she was doing. She just followed along with what Lina was doing beside her. When they were done, the food appeared on the empty dishes in the centre of the table. Minerva helped Lucy pour some food into her plate. They ate and talked. Malcolm asked Daniel and Nina what they were studying. Flynn answered more of Lucy's questions about dragons. Lando told them about a new girl he had been seeing named Sirena and Lina answered questions about how her O.W.L. classes were going.

After dinner the family moved over to the living room to drink their tea. Daniel sat on the couch with an arm around Nina watching Flynn and Lando play chess while Malcolm and Robert and Rosalin discussed Robert's work in Egypt with Gringotts Bank. Isobel, Minerva and Daisy were talking amongst themselves as well, a lot quieter than everyone else. Daisy was telling them what was happening at the Scottish branch of the Ministry. Lina sat on the floor in front of the tree with Lucy.

"So, you know about Christmas crackers, I'm sure," Lina said, holding out what looked like a normal cracker.

"Yeah..." Lucy said suspiciously.

"Well, these ones are basically the same thing but, like, better," Lina said with a smile. She holds it out for Lucy to grab the other end. Lucy did so and they pulled.

_BOOM!_

"Lina!" Rosalin exclaimed with her hand over her heart as the room filled with a blue smoke. "You have to warn everyone when you open one of those!"

Lina laughed. "Sorry, mum."

Lucy laughed too. Isobel smiled and shook her head. She took out her wand and with one flick the blue smoke swirled into a small ball in the centre of the room before disappearing completely. She asked, "so what did you get?"

Lucy looked down and saw that she had gotten the bigger end. A large Viking helmet sat on the floor in front of her. Lina picked it up and put it on Lucy's head. It fell below her eyes. Her head lowered slightly. "Ouf, it's heavy!"

Everyone laughed as Lucy pushed the helmet up so she could see. Lina grabbed the small piece of paper and read it. "Okay, here's the joke;  _what does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in a chimney? Claustrophobia."_

"Wow," Daniel said with a shake of his head. "I guess wizard crackers have the same terrible jokes that regular crackers do."

Flynn smiled. "I don't know, I kind of liked it."

"Of course you did," Lando mumbled. "You have the same stupid type of humour that whoever makes those do."

Lucy looked at the last thing that came out of the cracker. It was a small book. She picked it up and read the title.  _Atlas of the World._  Atlas? The book looked far too small to hold a map of the whole world. Lucy opened it up.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as a holographic image of the globe shone out of the book.

"Wow, that's cool," Lina said. She reached up and touched the globe. It started to move when she did so. She made a flicking motion with her fingers and it spun around on its axis like an actual globe.

"That's awesome," Lucy said with a smile. She closed the book and the globe disappeared. She stood up and ran to Nina and Daniel. "Look! Look!"

Nina smiled. "Yeah, that's really cool, Lucy."

She reached over and took the Viking helmet off Lucy's head as it kept falling past her eyes. She put it on Daniel's head and he laughed. "Do I look like a Norse God?"

"I think you need muscles to be a Norse God," Lucy said matter-of-factly as Nina pulled her into her lap, making everyone laugh again.

Daniel made a face at her. "Hey, watch it," he said. "You don't want to be put on the naughty list the night before Christmas."

"I won't be put on the naughty list," Lucy said as she opens the book again to show Nina the globe. "I'm a good little Indian girl."

Nina smiled and fixed Lucy's hair. Daniel shook his head and took the helmet off, putting it on Lucy's head again ruining Nina's work. Isobel watched the way Nina, Daniel and Lucy acted with each other and then looked over at her daughter. Minerva was sipping her tea quietly and looking away. Lina also stood up from where she was sitting and walked over to look at her cousin's chess game.

"He's got you on the ropes, Flynn," she said with a laugh.

"I've got it, Lina, don't worry," Flynn said, annoyed.

Daniel looked at the board too. "You could ask Lucy for help," he suggested. "She's good at chess."

"Really?"

"Yep," Lucy said. "No one's beat me yet."

"Okay, kid," Flynn said motioning for her to come over. Lucy slid down from Nina's lap, handing her the book and sat down next to Flynn on the ground in front of the coffee table. "Think you can help me out of this one?"

"Okay, so let me get this straight, you are enlisted the help of a six year old?" Lando said with a laugh. "You're definitely desperate, brother."

"You won't be so cocky after you lose to this six year old, Lando. Just wait. I have faith in mine and Lucy's abilities to crush you!"

"Well, my ability," Lucy mumbled quietly as she concentrated on the board. "You are not very good at chess."

Lina laughed. "I have faith in Lucy's abilities too, not so much Flynn's."

Lucy finally moved a knight across the board and sat back. She was still wearing the Viking helmet and was constantly lifting it up above her eyes so that she could actually see. While they played Malcolm moved over to sit near Minerva.

"Okay, I know that you were very smart when you were six but even you were never this smart. Have you considered that your daughter could be a genius?" he asked as he sat down.

"No, never once," Minerva muttered, giving him a look.

"Sarcasm really does not look great on you, Minerva," he said, giving her a look before smiling and shaking of his head.

Minerva smiled. "Lucy has a photographic memory," she explained. "Though I'm sure she has quite the IQ on top of that. It's one thing to remember everything, it's another to actually apply the knowledge."

"Ah," Malcolm said.

"She seems to be very powerful as well," Isobel said. "I saw her doing magic yesterday in the garden. She made so many snowballs and had them firing at the other children with just a flick of her hand. I know she started doing magic at a very young age, that was true for all of you as well, but I've never seen anyone without a wand or any formal training do anything like that with their magic."

"She's already doing some complicated spells," Minerva said. "She's read all the textbooks I left behind and is already doing most of her chores with magic."

"She's a very special one," Rosalin said with a smile.

"Most children her age can only do magic when they're very emotional and even then it's mostly just small magic," Isobel said. "She, on the other hand, has so much control over her magic for someone so young."

"I can't wait to see what she can do once she's a little older and actually has some schooling," Malcolm said.

Minerva looked at Lucy. She watched her concentrate on the board and think carefully before moving her next piece. "I think that she is going to do great things," Minerva said quietly with a small smile on her face. Lucy was very special and Minerva was very proud of her. "Whether that is in the Muggle world or the magical one, it's up to her."

"Checkmate," Lucy said.

"What? No!" Lando exclaimed, looking at the board.

"You lost, bro!" Flynn said with a laugh.

"I'm still undefeated," Lucy said with a smile.

"Even with the huge disadvantage of playing with Flynn's mess," Lina said with a laugh.

"Shut up," Flynn snipped at her. He looked down at Lucy. " _We_ did it right?"

Lucy looked up at him and smiled. "Sure," she said, letting him take some of the credit even though she did do most of the work. "We did it."

He laughed and stood up, pulling Lucy onto his shoulders. Lucy laughed, holding onto Flynn's chin with one hand and holding the Viking helmet up above her eyes with the other as Flynn runs around the room. "We did it! We did it!" he cheered as he bounced her up and down. "We beat Lando! We are awesome and he sucks!"

"Yay!" Lucy cheered.

"Flynn, be careful," Malcolm called.

"Why don't we do the presents now," Isobel said with a smile.

"Ooh, presents," Flynn said childishly.

"Presents? But it's not Christmas yet," Lucy said.

Flynn set Lucy down. "Yeah, we usually open one present each on Christmas Eve, don't you remember?" he said. "Then the rest on Christmas day. Grandma usually has us open hers on Christmas Eve."

"Yeah, I don't think your grandmother can make herself wait another whole night," Robert said with a laugh.

Isobel smiled. "No, I can't. Now come sit."

All the kids moved to sit down on the floor in front of their grandmother. Lucy sat down next to Nina and Daniel who had been ushered over as well. Nina had not expected a present at all, not really being a part of the family but Isobel ushered her over anyways. Isobel flicked her wand and gifts flew out from under the tree and into the laps of everyone in the room. Presents also flew into the laps of Isobel's own children and their wives. Everyone opened their presents. Flynn got an encyclopaedia on different dragon breeds which he loved. Lando received a magic key that could unlock any lock he wanted. Lina was given a gold necklace that could make the wearer's hair change into bright neon colours. She loved it and thanked Isobel over and over. Nina was given a camera that could take moving pictures and Daniel got a miniature glass spinning top called a Sneakoscope. It supposedly emitted a high pitched noise in the presence of description. Isobel gave Lucy a small shoulder bag that was a lot larger on the inside than it looked on the outside. She could put anything she wanted it in there without having to worry about it getting too heavy.

"Thank you," Lucy said, walking over to her grandmother and giving her a hug.

Isobel pulled her up into her lap and smiled. "Of course, darling," she said softly, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Welcome back home."

Minerva smiled. She was glad that Lucy and Daniel were back with their family. A lot had happened in the last few weeks and she hoped that the added family support helped pull them all out of the dark a little bit more. Minerva noticed Lucy yawn and looked at the clock. It was very late now and well past Lucy's bedtime. She looked over at Nina who was busy changing her hair colour with Lina's necklace and Daniel who was reading Flynn's book over his shoulder to notice the time.

"Lucy," she said, "I think it's time for bed."

"No, I think I should stay up," Lucy replied, looking over at her mother. "I'm not tired."

"You're not tired?" Minerva asked skeptically.

"Nope," she said but suddenly she yawned to contradict her point. Minerva raise an eyebrow at her but she shook her head adamantly.

Isobel laughed. "Alright, I think you should go to bed, sweetheart," she said. "I mean, the sooner you go to bed the sooner Christmas comes right."

Nina looked over at Lucy and smiled. "Oh, I completely lost track of time."

"That's alright, Nina," Minerva said, setting her cup down and standing up. "You can stay here, I'll take Lucy to bed."

"Oh, okay," Nina said with a smile.

Lucy looked at her mother and then over to Nina with a frown. She slid down off of Isobel's lap and walked over to where Nina was sitting. "You're not coming?"

"It's alright, love," she said. "Minerva is going up with you and I'll be up soon too. That's okay right?"

Lucy sighed but nodded. "Okay."

Nina smiled and gave Lucy a hug. "Goodnight."

"Night," she mumbled.

Lucy said goodnight to everyone else before taking her things and walking upstairs with Minerva. Minerva led her into her bedroom. Lucy walked over to sit down on the bed with a sigh. Minerva gave her a small smile. She took the Viking helmet off of Lucy's head and sets it down on the table. Lucy took the butterfly clip out of her hair as well and handed it to Minerva, who set it down on the dresser.

"It's okay, Lucy," Minerva said, knowing her daughter was still a little sad that Nina hadn't come to put her to bed. "Nina will be up soon enough."

"I know," she said quietly. She hopped off the bed and grabbed her pajamas from the dresser drawer. She then walked to her mother and turned around. "Can you get my zipper?"

"Yes," Minerva said. She leaned over and unzipped the dress. Lucy walked over to the bathroom to change. Minerva sat down on the bed and took out her own earrings while she waited for Lucy to come back.

Lucy came back wearing her Batman pajamas. She threw the dress she had been wearing on a chair and climbed up onto the bed next to her mother. She took off the necklace Nina had given her and handed it to her mother.

"Do you want to take off the earrings too?" Minerva asked standing up to put the necklace on the dresser as well.

"I have to put on the other ones," Lucy said, pointing over at Nina's bag of jewellery. "Or the holes will close over."

Minerva picked it up and opened the pocket that Nina had put Lucy's other earrings in and pulled them out. She looked them over. They were gold earrings in the shape of leaves. Minerva walked back to the bed and handed Lucy the earrings. She sat down and watched as Lucy took off the ones she was wearing and put the gold ones back in. She sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe your father let you get your ears pierced."

Lucy smiled a small smile as she set the earrings down on the bedside table. "He said you wouldn't like it."

"And I'm guessing that only made you want to do it even more, right?" she asked with a smile.

"No..." Lucy said with a smile. She looked over at the clock and frowned. It wasn't really that late. Daniel and Nina always stayed up so much later than she did. It wasn't fair. "I'm not tired. I don't want to sleep."

"You say that every night."

"I think I'll stay up and wait for Nina to come upstairs," said Lucy.

"Lucy..." Minerva mumbled with a sigh. "Alright, what's wrong? Why do you need Nina so you can sleep?"

"I don't need her," Lucy said, looking away. "I just like it when she's here. She always comes and puts me to bed. Why isn't she today?"

"Well, even she needs a break sometimes, right?"

"A break from me?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Minerva said. She moved over and sat down next to Lucy, putting a hand on her back. "I just mean that sometimes she might like to keep doing whatever she's doing without having to worry about you not getting enough sleep."

Lucy sighed. "Well, I still don't want to sleep."

She stood up, quickly moving out of her mother's reach. Minerva gave her a look. "You need to go to bed, Lucy."

"You know, Batman doesn't sleep! He fights bad guys at night," Lucy said jumping down from the bed. She ran around the room excitedly and did a pretty impressive cartwheel. Minerva smiled and shook her head. "He's so cool! He can do flips and punch out bad guys like The Joker!"

Minerva stood up from the bed and walked over to where Lucy was. She tried to grab her but Lucy moved out of the way and laughed. "Lucy."

"He's like a ninja! You can't catch him!"

"Okay, I'm going to count to ten," Minerva said, putting her hands on her hips and gave her a pointed look. "You better be in bed by then or else." Lucy giggled as Minerva started counting, still not taking her very seriously. "One, two, three, four, five, six... Lucy, I'm not playing anymore. Get in bed. Seven... Eight... I'm serious. Nine... te-"

"Okay, okay!" Lucy said quickly, smile fading away. She scurried over and jumped up onto the bed. "I'm in bed."

Minerva smiled. She was glad that even if Lucy was smart for her age those old tactics still worked on her. "Good."

Minerva walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket up over her daughter. Lucy crossed her arms and looked up at her mother with a frown. "Nina's more fun."

"Well, she'll be here soon. You can stay up and wait for her if you want to but you have to lay here in bed while you wait," Minerva told her, knowing full well that there was no way Lucy was going to last that long.

"Fine, I will," Lucy replied stubbornly.

"Okay," Minerva said with a smile. She leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight, Lucy."

"Night."

...

"You're jealous," Isobel said, looking over at her daughter with a small smile. They were standing in the kitchen alone. It was quite late now and everyone else headed upstairs to go to bed a while ago. It was just Minerva and Isobel left, cleaning up the rest of the dishes and silverware.

"What?" Minerva asked looking over at her mother with a raised eyebrow.

"You're jealous of the way Nina is with Lucy," Isobel said, watching Minerva pick up the glass and inspect it with a frown. Minerva walked passed her, opened a cupboard, and put the glass away.

"I don't know where you got that idea but -"

"Minerva, it may not be obvious to anyone else but I'm your mother. I know you better than that," Isobel interrupted with a smile and a shake of her head. She put down a plate in the sink so it could start washing itself and turned to look back at her daughter. "And I know that you're jealous of Nina."

Minerva sighed and closed the cupboard. She turned back around, crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter. She avoided her mother's gaze when she spoke. "It's not that I'm jealous," she said. "It's just..."

"It's just that you wish Lucy would come to you when she was excited or ask you to do things for her instead of going to Nina first?" Isobel said.

"It would be nice, yes," she muttered, still not looking at her mother.

Isobel gave her daughter a knowing smile. She walked over to Minerva and put a hand on her arm. "Just give it time, love," she said, leaning back on the counter as well and put her arm around her daughter. Minerva sighed and leaned her head against her mother's shoulder. "Lucy will get over you not being there. Children don't really see logic, you know. They see who's there and who's not. You had your reasons for not being there, reasons which she will understand when she gets a little older but all that matters now is that you're here now. In time she'll realize that you're here to stay and she'll treat you the same way as she treats Nina."

"I know," Minerva mumbled. "It's just... she's only been around for Lucy for three months! I know I wasn't there but Nina has only been there for three months."

"Yes but, you have to remember, it was also most likely the hardest three months of Lucy's life," Isobel said with a sigh. "She can have two mother figures, Minerva. She doesn't have to be restricted to one."

"Yes, I just wish she'd realize that too."

"She will," Isobel said. "In time."


	5. Aunty Amelia Comes Home

_**December 1987** _

_Amelia Bones sat at the bar with her drink in hand. She looked down at her watch and sighed. She would admit that it had been her own fault that she had to wait for her friend so long, she had gotten here quite early, but in a minute Minerva would be late and the blame would shift to her. Amelia had brown hair tied up in her customary sophisticated updo. She was wearing a long black dress and a silver necklace with matching earrings. It had been a while since she had dressed up like this to go out to something that wasn't a work function._

" _Waiting for a boyfriend."_

_Amelia looked over and saw a man with black hair, tan skin, and brown eyes standing beside her, nursing a gin and tonic. He was wearing a grey blazer over a light blue dress shirt and black trousers. Amelia noticed that the top button of his suit was unbuttoned. Apparently he was very relaxed. He was leaning on the bar beside her though was not looking at her._

" _Excuse me?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at the man._

" _That's my guess," he said, looking over at her and giving her a crooked little smile. "You're sitting here waiting for a boyfriend. I would have guessed husband but you're not wearing a ring."_

" _And what made you think I was waiting for a boyfriend?" Amelia asked._

" _Well, you're obviously waiting for someone. You keep checking your watch and sighing so I'm guessing whoever it is you are waiting for is late."_

" _You are very observant. Though, what made you think the person I was waiting for was a boyfriend?"_

" _That's more speculation than evidence based, I will admit," the man said. "Just thought that someone as beautiful as you would probably have a boyfriend."_

_Amelia couldn't help but smile a little though she tried very hard not to. "I'm sorry to say that you are mistaken," she said. "I am waiting for someone, that is true, but I'm waiting for a friend. Not a boyfriend."_

" _Well, I was close," he said with a smile. "So, what are you and this friend of yours planning for this fine evening?_

" _She's introducing me to someone," she replied._

" _A blind date then."_

" _No, this someone is her someone."_

" _I see," he said. "Raj Patil, by the way. Maybe should have lead with that. Name's kind of important."_

" _I must admit Mr. Patil, I've never had someone use a chat up line like this on me," Amelia said with a smile._

" _Call me Raj, please," he said, pushing himself off the bar and turning so he could give her his full attention. "And that wasn't a chat up line. That was me being genuinely interested in what a beautiful woman like you was doing in a fancy place like this all alone."_

" _Uh huh."_

" _Besides, I'm also waiting for a friend," he said. "He's introducing me to his new girl. Something about her being special and all. I suppose I'll see for myself though."_

" _I feel the same way about my friend's new man."_

" _We're good friends."_

" _We are."_

" _So, I've told you my name," Raj said. "Are you going to tell me yours?"_

" _Amelia," she said. "Amelia Bones."_

" _Well, it's nice to meet you Ms. Bones," he said with a smile, sticking out his hand for her to shake._

_Amelia shook it and said, "you can call me Amelia."_

" _So, what do you do, Amelia?" Raj asked._

" _I'm a judge."_

" _A judge? Wow," he said. "That's interesting. You seem quite young to have already attained a judgeship."_

" _How old do you think I am?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow._

" _Come now, that's an obvious trap. I'm not answering that," he said making her laugh._

_Amelia smiled. "What do you do, Raj?" she asked._

" _I'm the COO of a company here in London," he replied._

" _What's a COO?"_

" _It's the chief operating officer of a company. Basically the second in command after the CEO," Raj said._

" _Wow. You're really up there then," Amelia said._

" _I suppose," he said with a smile. "It's not that big a deal, really."_

" _Right."_

_Raj smiled and was about to say something else when he was cut off._

" _Amelia!" Minerva's voice called from behind her._

_Amelia turned around and saw her friend walking towards them holding the arm of a tall man with messy black hair and grey eyes. This must be the Jay Collins man that she spoke so fondly of. Amelia had to admit that, so far, she was quite impressed. She smiled and got up off the stool she had been sitting on. Raj also smiled at Minerva and Jay._

" _Raj," Jay said with a smile. "How are you?"_

" _Oh," Amelia said, looking over at Raj._

_Raj smiled. "It seems we were waiting for the same people," he said to her before turning to Jay and shaking his hand. "I'm good. At least this time when you were late you left me with some good company."_

" _You two have already met?" Minerva asked, looking at her friend with a raised eyebrow._

" _We just did," Amelia said._

" _I'm glad," Jay said with a smile. "Well, Minerva, let me introduce you to my friend and business partner, Raj Patil. Raj this is Minerva McGonagall, my girlfriend."_

" _It's nice to finally meet you, Minerva," Raj said with a charming smile, sticking out his hand for Minerva to shake._

_She smiled and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you as well, Raj," she said. "It seems you've already met my friend, Amelia."_

" _Yes, we've been keeping each other company while we waited for the two of you," he said. He looked down at his watch. "You two are six minutes late."_

" _Oh, six minutes," Jay said. "We are terribly sorry."_

_Raj smiled and gave a little shrug._

" _Jay, this is Amelia Bones," Minerva said, taking her turn introducing her friend. "Amelia, Jay Collins."_

" _It's nice to meet you, Amelia," Jay said, shaking her hand._

" _You as well, Jay," Amelia said with a smile. "I've heard a lot about you."_

" _Good things, I hope," he said with a laugh._

" _Of course," she said._

_A hostess came over and led the way to their table. They ordered more drinks, looked over the menus, and ordered their food. As they ate, Amelia and Raj got to know their respective friend's new partner a little better. Raj asked Minerva about her work. When he learned that she was from Scotland, he asked her more about that and he seemed genuinely interested. Minerva liked Raj. He didn't talk down to her just because she did not make as much money as Jay did or because she grew up in a tiny Scottish town on the Northern coast._

" _So, how did you two meet?" Raj asked, looking between Amelia and Minerva._

" _We met at school when we were eleven," Minerva replied._

" _Wow, eleven," Raj said. "That's a really long time ago."_

" _Not that long," Amelia said, giving him a look._

_Jay laughed. "Of course," he said._

" _When we first met, I didn't think that Minerva like me very much," Amelia said with a smile._

" _Hey," Minerva said, "I believe it was you who called me something not so nice in French."_

" _Really?" Raj asked with a laugh._

" _In my defence," Amelia said, "I didn't think that you would understand."_

_They all laughed. Raj told them that his and Jay's meeting was not as interesting. "We met in class during university. We were eighteen," he said. "So we haven't been friends for as long as you two."_

" _Well, it doesn't really matter how long you know someone," Amelia said with a smile. "Some people you could know for years and never learn a thing about them. Others you could know for a couple months and already know that they will be very important people in your lives. I think that I knew that Minerva and I would be friends for a long time after a few months of knowing her."_

" _I agree," Jay said with a smile, looking over at Minerva. Minerva smiled too and gave his hand a little squeeze._

" _Very eloquently said," Raj said making Amelia roll her eyes._

_They talked and ate more. Amelia asked Jay more about himself. She asked about work and Daniel. Jay liked his girlfriend's best friend too. She was very kind and thoughtful. He didn't think that he had ever met someone as genuinely nice as Amelia Bones._

" _I really do like the work that your company does. You do a lot of charity work as well which is very nice. I actually attended one of your charity galas a couple of years ago," Amelia said. "I think it was for cancer research."_

" _Oh did you? What did you think?" Jay asked._

" _It was nice. I don't usually like parties like those but some people from work were going and asked me to come along. I decided to go because it was for charity after all. Maybe if I had invited Minerva, you two would have met a long time ago."_

_Jay smiled. "Maybe."_

_After they finished their food, Minerva and Amelia got up to go to the restroom leaving Jay and Raj alone at the table._

" _Minerva's really something," Raj said with a smile. "Seems like she's not afraid to call you on your bullshit."_

" _What bullshit?"_

" _Any and all."_

_Jay smiled and shook his head. "I'm glad you liked her. You should see the way she is with Daniel," he said. "She's just an amazing woman and I'm so glad that I haven't scared her off yet."_

" _I don't think anything could scare that woman," Raj said with a laugh. "What's Daniel think of her?"_

" _He loves her too," Jay said with a smile. "I was a little worried that he wouldn't take me dating another woman very well but he seemed okay with it."_

" _It's been a very long time, Jay. I'm glad that you're getting back out there again."_

" _I definitely love Minerva McGonagall," he said. "I think I'm going to marry her one day."_

" _Wow, that's fast," Raj said with a smile. "I expect to be Best Man again. Don't you go giving my job away to someone else now."_

" _Don't worry, I won't," Jay said with a laugh._

_In the washroom, Minerva looked over at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "What were you and Raj talking about before we came?"_

" _Oh, nothing really," she replied, not looking at Minerva and walking passed her towards a stall._

" _Uh huh," Minerva said with a smile._

" _I know that tone and I don't appreciate it. I don't like what you're implying."_

" _I'm not implying anything."_

" _Of course not."_

_They did their business and then walked over to the sinks to wash their hands._

" _What do you think of him?" Minerva asked._

" _Jay? He seems wonderful," Amelia said with a smile. "You are a very lucky woman."_

" _I am but you know that's not what I'm talking about," Minerva said with a laugh. "Raj. What do you think of him?"_

_Amelia shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I think of him. It matters what you do. He's Jay's friend after all."_

" _Well, I think he's quite nice," she said. "And I think you like him."_

" _And I think you're crazy," Amelia said with a roll of her eyes. She grabbed some paper towel and headed for the door._

_Minerva laughed and followed after her. They walked back to their table where they ordered some dessert and talked some more._

_When the night came to a close, Jay and Minerva shook both Raj and Amelia's hands, said goodbyes and parted ways._

" _Will you stay the night at Rochester?" Jay asked Minerva as they walked down the street away from the restaurant to find an alleyway to Apparate in._

" _Of course," she said. "I liked Raj. He's very nice and quite charming."_

_Jay smiled. "I'm glad you like him. We've know each other for a long time now. Not as long as you and Amelia but still quite a long time," he said. "Amelia is very nice as well. I don't think I've ever met a kinder person."_

" _I'm glad you liked her too," she said. "I can't wait for her to meet Daniel. She's excited to meet him and I think he'll love her too."_

" _I'm sure he will," Jay said with a smile. He looked at his watch and shook his head. "I'll bet he's still up waiting for us."_

" _I'm not stupid enough to take that bet."_

_Jay smiled. They slipped into an alley and Apparated back to Collins Mansion in Rochester. Christie answered the door for them and, to no one's surprise, Daniel was still awake. He asked them how their dinner went excitedly. It took them sometime but they were finally able to coax him into bed before going to Jay's room and getting into bed themselves._

* * *

_**Friday, January 2nd 1998** _

"Welcome back," Raj said, opening the door and letting everyone into the house.

"Hey, Uncle Raj," Daniel said, carrying his and Nina's bags into the house. Raj took one of them from him. "When did you get in?"

"Earlier today," he said, putting the bag down on the floor and taking Lucy's from Nina. "Maria sent groceries over as well so I put those away for you."

"Great, thank you," Daniel said, taking off his shoes and coat.

Lucy and Minerva came in next. Lucy smiled and raced over to her uncle when she saw him. "Uncle Raj! Uncle Raj!"

"Hello, Princess," Raj said happily, picking her up and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "How are you? How was your trip?"

"It was good," Lucy said. "We got to see my  _nani_  and my aunts and uncles and my cousins. We played in the snow and we got presents and we stayed up to see the fireworks on New Year's Eve!"

"That sounds lovely," Raj said with a smile, putting Lucy down so she could take off her shoes and coat. He looked over at Minerva. "Minerva."

"Raj," Minerva said. "Happy New Year."

"To you too," he said. He reached down and tousled Lucy's hair a bit. "I hope this one was well-behaved through the flight."

"She was lovely, of course," Minerva said, putting her coat away in the closet. She went to take her bag upstairs but Raj stopped her.

"Allow me," he said, taking the bag from her. He picked Lucy's up as well and headed up the stairs. "Daniel, you'll bring the others?"

"Yep," Daniel said, picking up his and Nina's bags again and taking Lucy's backpack from her. He followed Raj up the stairs to his own bedroom.

"Well, I'm tired," Nina said with a yawn. "I could use a nap. What do you say, Lucy?"

"Naps are for babies."

"Really?" Nina asked with a laugh as she headed towards the living room. Lucy followed after her and Minerva smiled.

They sat down in the living room and Nina kicked her legs up on the couch, trapping Lucy under her. Lucy tried to push them away but Nina kept them down on her. Lucy laughed.

"Stop!" Lucy said with a laugh, trying to get out from under her legs. Nina laughed and pushed down against her harder.

Minerva shook her head. "You two are ridiculous."

Just then Daniel and Raj walked back into the room. Raj sat down in an armchair beside Minerva and Daniel walked over to the couch to sit down with Lucy and Nina. He saw Lucy sitting with Nina's legs over her lap and raised an eyebrow at Nina.

"I want to sit," he said. "Are you going to move?"

"Nope," Nina said. "Go sit somewhere else. I'm laying here."

"Daniel, help me!" Lucy said, struggling against Nina's legs again. "I'm trapped!"

Daniel laughed and waved his hand at her dismissively. He sat down on the floor in front of Nina's head instead. "Sorry, kid," he said. "Nothing I can do for you."

Nina laughed and Lucy managed to get one arm free. She banged her fist on Nina's leg but Nina didn't move much.

"Uncle Raj!" Lucy called.

"Just stop fighting, love," Raj said with a laugh. "Relax, it'll be easier."

"Are you trying to teach my daughter to give up?" Minerva asked, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow.

Raj rolled his eyes but smiled. "No," he said. "Stop fighting and think about it."

Lucy stopped struggling and thought about it like Raj said. She got an idea, reached over and tickled the bottom of Nina's foot. Nina flinched and Lucy slid free.

"Yay!" she cheered, running towards her uncle. "I did it! I got out all by myself!"

Nina shook her head and gave her a playful glare. She turned over and started running her fingers through Daniel's hair instead. Daniel looked up and smiled at her. Raj pulled Lucy onto his lap. He tousled her hair and she hugged him.

"So, how are Isobel and the others?" he asked, looking over at Daniel.

"Good, they're good," Daniel said. "She was in Germany. Just got back a little while ago. We had fun with everyone and Nina really liked them."

"Yes, they were very nice," Nina said with a smile. She looked over at Minerva. "Thank you again for letting me come along."

"Of course," Minerva said with a smile. "I wouldn't say I -"

Just then the doorbell rang, cutting Minerva off. Lucy looked up excitedly and slid off of Raj's lap. She raced towards the door. "I'll get it! I'll get it!"

"I wonder who that could be," Raj said.

"I'll go take a look," Minerva said before he could get up. She got up and walked towards the entrance hall where Lucy was opening the door. Lucy opened it only a crack and looked outside. Her eyes widened but Minerva couldn't see who it was.

In the doorway stood a woman with brown hair tied up in a sophisticated updo and a long black coat on. She had brown eyes and a soft face and looked exactly the same as she had two years ago. Lucy stared at her for a long time and Amelia Bones gave her a small smile.

"Who's there, Lucy?" Minerva asked with a frown. Lucy didn't say anything. She kept staring at Amelia.

"Hello, Lucy," Amelia said. "May I come in?"

Lucy finally regained movement. She took a step back and pulled the door open further. Amelia walked in and Lucy closed the door behind her. Amelia looked around and saw Minerva. She gave her a small smile and Minerva smiled back.

"Hello, Amelia," she said, walking over.

"How are you holding up?" she asked, giving Minerva a hug.

"I'm okay," Minerva said. "You don't have to worry about me."

They pulled away and Amelia took off her coat. Minerva took it from her and Amelia kneeled down in front of Lucy. Lucy kept staring at her with wide eyes. Amelia smiled a little and took her hands.

"How are you doing, my love?" Amelia asked.

Lucy shrugged.

"You remember who I am, right?"

Lucy nodded. "I called you."

"You did."

"You gave me my doll, Rin."

"I did."

"Amelia's actually your godmother," Minerva said with a small smile.

Lucy looked at Amelia for a second before letting go of her hands, moving closer, and wrapping her arms around her neck. Amelia smiled a little and wrapped her arms around her. Minerva watched them and smiled too.

"Aunty Amelia," Lucy whispered. "Please don't leave for that long ever again."

"I won't, love, I won't," Amelia said.

Just then Raj walked out of the living room. "Who was at the - oh." He stopped in his tracks to see Amelia on the floor with Lucy. "Hi..."

Amelia looked up and smiled at Raj. She stood up properly, Lucy still close to her, hugging her legs. "Hello, Raj," she said. "It's been a while."

"It has," Raj said with a frown.

There was a pause. The silence felt heavy. Lucy looked up from her aunt to her uncle and then to her mother. Minerva sighed and stuck out her hand for her.

"Come on, let's go sit in the living room," she said. Lucy nodded and ran over to her, taking her hand. Minerva looked at Raj and Amelia. "Shall we?"

Amelia nodded and followed after her. Raj waited for them to walk past him before walking behind them into the room. Daniel and Nina looked up from the couch.

"Daniel," Amelia said with a smile. "How are you?"

"Amelia, hello," he said, standing up. "I'm okay."

"Please sit. You don't have to get up for me," she said, trying to play off the hurt she felt for him not calling her  _Aunt_  Amelia. She looked at Nina and gave her a little smile. "Hello, I'm Amelia Bones."

"Hi, Nina Chaudhry," Nina said with a small smile, reaching out her hand towards Amelia. "It's nice to meet you."

Amelia shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you as well, Miss Chaudhry."

"Please, call me Nina," she said.

"Nina's my girlfriend," Daniel said. "Please sit."

Amelia sat down in the armchair Minerva had been sitting on and Raj moved over to the couch, leaving his seat for Minerva. Lucy let go of Minerva's hand and ran over to sit down with her uncle. Raj pulled her up into his lap.

"I heard what happened and I wanted to come over as soon as possible but Minerva told me that you all were going up to Castletown for the holidays so I decided to wait and give you time," Amelia said. "I'm very sorry. To all of you. For what happened. For not being here. I should have made it easier for you to contact me and I am sorry that I did not do that."

"Ah, how about I get us all some tea?" Nina said, getting up quickly. She didn't wait for a response from anyone, walking briskly out towards the kitchen. She left and everyone sat in silence for a while.

Eventually conversation started. It was awkward at first. Short sentences, awkward pauses, silent shared looks. Nina came back and handed out tea. She had brought juice for Lucy as well. She sat down, tension still thick in the air.

Then it got better. It became easier, more natural, less laggy. And it only got better from there. Suddenly there were smiles and laughter. There were jokes, old stories and new ones. The years of absence forgiven, yet not completely forgotten yet. Amelia knew that and she didn't fault them for it. She understood it would take time.

They moved into the dining room for dinner and then back to the living room for drinks. Somewhere in the middle, Amelia was convinced to stay the night. Slowly people left for their bedrooms. Lucy first, complain the whole way as Nina dragged her up the stairs. Daniel and Nina left next. Then Raj and then finally Minerva convinced Amelia to go up too. She showed her to her bedroom and gave her some clothes to change into. Minerva left and Amelia sat on the bed for a while before deciding to get up and get some water. She made her way down to the kitchen and poured herself a glass.

"You're up late."

Amelia turned to see Raj standing in the doorway. She gave him a small smile. "I could say the same to you."

He shrugged as he walked into the kitchen and opened a cupboard. "They have quite the collection, you know," he said, pulling out a bottle. He showed her the malt whisky, same kind they drank when the four of them went out. "I don't touch the expensive stuff. Don't feel right about it but I do indulge myself every once in a while."

He pulled out a glass and poured some scotch into it. He held it out to her. Amelia shook her head. "I really shouldn't."

"Come on," he said, pushing it closer to her a little bit. "Daniel won't mind and I will replace it."

Amelia sighed and took the glass from him. "You've done a lot for those children, Raj," she said. "I am very impressed."

He shrugged as he pulled out another glass and poured himself a drink.

"Some could easily think that they were your own."

"They've always been my children," he said, looking back at her. "I'm their godfather after all."

"It's a terrible thing," Amelia said, choosing to ignore his jab. "Jay was a great man and I know you loved him. I'm very sorry for your loss."

"He was," Raj said with a sigh. "He's what motivates me to do all this. He was an amazing man and if the tables had been reversed I know he would not have hesitated in doing the same."

Amelia nodded though she didn't say anything. She leaned back against the counter and he looked down at the bottle on the counter.

"Besides," he said, "they do as much for me as I do for them, if not more. If it wasn't for Lucy and Daniel I would have problems getting up out of bed every morning too."

"Minerva didn't leave her room for days after she found out," Amelia said. "I'm glad she has you all now. You all motivate her to get up too."

Raj didn't say anything. She had trouble did she? Didn't leave her room? How unfortunate for her. Raj did not have time to waste on feeling sorry for Minerva McGonagall. He had more important things, people, to worry about.

Amelia sighed. "Minerva told me about the custody issue," she said. "She was very upset. Furious at you for even suggesting such a thing."

"You were a lawyer," he said suddenly, turning and looking at her. "How easy would it have been for her to take Lucy away from us if she had wanted to?"

"She wouldn't -"

"If she had wanted to."

Again Amelia sighed. "Very easy."

"I thought I knew her. A couple years ago I would never have dared suggested it but now I realize that I don't know her. I know very little about her so I just wanted to cover all my bases," he said, looking away again. "I wanted to make sure that Lucy stayed here with Daniel. That is all."

"I understand," she said. "Though, she didn't sign it and now we're here. Lucy's here. Doesn't that mean something? Doesn't that show you something?"

"It's only been about two week," he said. "Things don't change in only two weeks. It takes much more time than that. I'll see when her  _work_  actually starts up again."

"And when it does and she comes home every night," Amelia said, "will you forgive her?"

Raj doesn't say anything.

"Daniel and Lucy have."

"Of course they have," Raj said. "They're her children. They love her and when you love someone you forgive them, even if what they did was shitty. I know all about forgiving your parent because they are your parent, Amelia."

"Of course, I'm sorry. I never -"

"They forgive her. It's not my job to tell them not too. I never tried to interfere with that," he said. "My job is simply to protect them. That's all I'm trying to do. That's all I ever tried to do."

Amelia sighed and looked down. "Okay," she said. "You don't forgive her. I can understand that. I do hope that eventually you'll change your mind though."

"Do you know what excuse she told Daniel?"

She didn't respond.

" _Work_. She said she had to leave for work," he said. "Two years, Amelia. She left her children, her husband, for two years without so much as a phone call for two years because of  _work_. What kind of work could a teacher have that would require her not to speak to her family for two years?"

Amelia didn't say anything again.

Raj looked over at her again suddenly. "What's the real reason?" he asked. "What's the reason she gave you to make you and Isobel and the others leave Lucy and Daniel as well?"

"I don't -"

"I know you know."

"I don't know what to tell you Raj," she said. "It was a complicated situation and Minerva needed time. She was busy."

Raj stared at her for a second before shaking his head. "Fine. Don't tell me," he said, looking away again. "What was your reason, then?"

"What?"

"You were gone too, Amelia," he said. "You left too so I want to know what your excuse was. Minerva leaving is one thing but that didn't mean that you and Isobel and the others had to completely abandon them as well."

Amelia sighed. "I can't give you a good reason," she said. "You won't believe it like you don't believe Minerva."

"Try me."

"Lucy and Daniel are Minerva's children. If she asked me not to come see them I have to respect her wishes."

"You're right. I don't believe that," Raj said. "That's a lie. I know it is. You're Amelia Fucking Bones. You don't take shit from anyone, not even her. You loved Lucy and Daniel and you wouldn't have let her tell you not to see them. Neither would Isobel. So I don't understand what could have happened to make both of you change your mind."

"That's the best answer I can give you right now," she said.

He looked her up and down before looking away again and pouring himself another drink. "Very diplomatic of you."

"I work in government," Amelia said. "I suppose I've picked up some things."

He shook his head. "Always been the diplomat," he mumbled. "You would do well in politics."

There was another pause. They stood there in silence, sipping their drinks.

"Raj," Amelia said finally breaking the silence. She set down her glass in the sink so he wouldn't pour her another. "Things are stressful right now. That's why you've been drinking more, right?"

"Only when they're asleep."

"Of course," she said. "You've done so much, Raj, but now you can finally relax a little bit. You can share some of the work with Minerva. Working together will be so much easier than being at odds."

"We're not at odds."

"But you're not working together."

Raj sighed and shook his head. He put the top back on the bottle and put it away. He dumped the rest of his drink in the sink and set his glass down in it as well.

"Go to bed, Amelia. It's late."

With that he headed out of the room and up the stairs. Amelia sighed. She turned back to the sink and turned it on. She cleaned the glasses, dried them, and put them away. After that was done she headed up the stairs. She walked over to her bedroom, opened the door and was about to go in when she heard a click from a door a little ways down the hall. She looked over to see Lucy's door open and her look out a little.

"Lucy?"

Lucy froze and looked up at her aunt. Amelia saw the tears in her eyes and immediately walked over. She kneeled down in front of her.

"What's wrong, darling?"

Lucy rubbed her eyes with her hands and took a couple deep breaths before whispering, "I - I had a bad dream."

"Oh, darling, it's okay," she said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Lucy shook her head quickly.

"Sometimes it helps."

Lucy shook her head again.

"Alright, well, where were you headed?"

Lucy pointed to a door across the hall. "Daniel and Nina's room."

"Oh," Amelia said. "Well, I can stay with you instead if you'd like. That way you won't have to wake them."

Lucy thought about this for a second before nodding a little bit. She walked back into her room and let Amelia in. Amelia walked in and closed the door behind her. She smiled and looked around a little. "Your room's changed since I last saw it."

"It's not a baby room anymore," Lucy said, climbing back into bed. Amelia walked over and sat down beside her. Lucy picked up the blankets and looked up at her. "Do you want to lay down?"

"Sure," she said with a small smile. She laid down, pulling blankets over herself. Lucy moved a little closer and leaned into Amelia's chest. Amelia put an arm around her. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Lucy sighed. "I have a nightmare every night."

"Every night?"

Lucy nodded. "It's always the same one," she said. "It's about the hospital and my daddy."

"Oh, darling," Amelia whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Lucy whispered. "Daniel said it would go away soon but it's not. I think something's wrong with me."

"No, no," Amelia said, giving her a hug. "Nothing's wrong with you. What you went through was horrible and it's normal to still be having nightmares now. They will go away eventually. "

There was a pause and Amelia heard Lucy sniff a couple times. She heard Lucy's breathing get shaky again and sighed. Before she could say anything, however, Lucy spoke. Her voice was quiet and shaky.

"I miss my daddy so bad," she whispered.

Amelia moved closer and pulled Lucy into a hug. She sobbed into Amelia's chest. Amelia rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head.

"I know things happened and I know it's still hard but it will get better," she said. "I'm so sorry for everything. I really am and if you need anything, I'm here. I'm here now and I'm not going to leave again."

"I - I'm glad you're back too."

"Me too. I missed you all so much."

"I missed you too."

Lucy yawned and closed her eyes a little. Amelia smiled. She pulled the blanket a little closer and said, "let's get some sleep, sweetheart. I'll be right here if you get scared, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy said. "Goodnight, Aunty Amelia."

"Goodnight, Lucy."

...

The next morning Amelia woke up to find herself alone in Lucy's bedroom. She got up and walked out of the room just as Nina was walking out of hers and Daniel's, dressed and ready for the day. Nina smiled at her.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully. "Did you stay with Lucy last night?"

"I did," Amelia said with a nod. "I saw her leaving her room crying so I asked her what was wrong and she said that she had a nightmare."

"Oh, I was wondering why Lucy didn't come over last night. I was hoping she was finally having a peaceful night," Nina said with a sigh. "Thank you for staying with her."

"Of course," Amelia said with a smile. "It's no problem at all."

"Well, I can get you some of Minerva's clothes if you'd like to change and I'm sure I could find a new toothbrush around here somewhere," Nina said. "Just give me a minute."

"Thank you, Nina," Amelia said, heading back to her room so she could wait there.

"Of course," Nina said with a smile. She walked off to grab Amelia's things.

When Nina came back, Amelia got changed and ready for the day. She went downstairs to find everyone sitting there eating breakfast. Nina got up and gave Amelia her chair before pulling a stool over to sit down herself.

A little while after breakfast, Amelia walked into the library. She had always loved this room of Collins Mansion. Shelves lined the walls filled with books. Comfy couches and armchairs sat around the room next to end tables piled high with books. A huge window looking over the back garden let in a lot of natural light. Brown wooden stairs led up to the balcony that wrapped around the whole room. More shelves lined the walls up there. She knew that up the stairs on the very last shelf, hidden away in the furthest corner of the room easily missed by visitors, was their small collection of magic books. Raj must not go up there very much as he had still not found them, it seemed.

Amelia saw Daniel sitting on a couch reading a book. She smiled and walked towards him. "Hello."

Daniel looked up and gave her a smile. "Hey."

"I was just about to head out. Thought I'd say goodbye before I did," she said.

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Daniel asked as she walked over and sat down in an armchair.

"Yes, I have a lot of work to attend to back home but before I do, I thought I'd come see you," she said. "We haven't really got the chance to talk. How are you doing, Daniel?"

"I'm okay," he said with a little shrug.

"It's a lot, I know. Things have changed so much in such a short period of time," she said quietly, leaning back in her chair. "I know Lucy's having a little bit of trouble with things so I just wanted to make sure that you were doing okay."

He smiled a little and nodded. "Yes, I'm okay," he said. He closed his book and put it down beside him. "A lot has changed and sometimes it is pretty hard to wrap my head around it if I think about it too much. It's just so complicated... but I'm okay. I try to be. For Lucy."

"You been so good to her, Daniel. I'm very proud of you."

Daniel shrugged again. "She's my sister. I'm just doing what older brothers are supposed to do," he said. "Nothing special."

"No, you're doing much more," Amelia said. "And I know Lucy really appreciates it."

"She's a good kid," he said. "Helps me out just as much as I help her, really."

"You two are great for each other," she said with a smile. "And that Nina's really something. I approve. Not that you need my approval, of course."

Daniel laughed. "I'm glad you like her," he said. "She is something. I can't imagine having to go through all this without her."

Amelia smiled. "I'm glad you've found each other."

Daniel nodded. He sighed and looked away. "So… ah," he said a little uncertainly, "this war... how bad has it actually gotten? What's going on? Min's not told me much about it."

Amelia's smile faded away and she sighed. "It's pretty bad, Daniel," she said. "A lot of good people have died. A lot of people are missing. A lot of people have moved into Hogwarts where it's safer."

"Do you think it's safe here?" he asked.

"I do," she said. "There are a lot of enchantments on this house to make sure that you, Lucy, Nina, and Raj stay safe. If anything changes I'm sure Minerva will come up with a way to keep you all safe. I mean if worse comes to worse you could always come up to Hogwarts or go back to Castletown."

He nodded though he didn't like any of those options. He loved his home and he didn't want to leave it.

"You know, this has always been my favourite room in your house," Amelia said.

Daniel smiled a little. "It's Lucy's favourite as well," he said. "I go back and forth. I really like the greenhouse outside."

"The greenhouse is very nice as well," Amelia said with a nod. "The gallery is also really something."

"I think you just like our house in general," Daniel said with a smile.

"Maybe," she said with a small laugh. "I really hope that things can go back to how they were between us, Daniel. I really missed you and Lucy both these past two years. I know that it may take some time and some work on my part but I really do hope that eventually we can get back to having very academic discussions on the intricacies of the Batman universe."

Daniel smiled. "Do you still think Gotham would be better off with billionaire, philanthropist Bruce Wayne than Batman?"

Amelia smiled. He was also trying to go back to how things were too. She was glad that she wasn't the only one who had to put in the effort. "I do," she said. "Bruce Wayne could provide the education and social reform that Gotham needs that Batman just could not provide."

"Though, that would make a worse comic book than a masked vigilante cleaning up the streets," he said with a smile. "Wouldn't it?"

"Of course," she said with a laugh.

They talked about Batman for a while longer before Amelia got up to head home. Before she picked up the notepad and pen sitting by the phone on the side table and wrote down her number.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it easier for you to contact me when I left," she said, ripping the paper out of the notepad and holding it out to him. "I don't want make the same mistake again so here's my number. If you or Lucy or Nina ever need anything, anything at all, do not hesitate to call me. No matter what time of day it might be."

Daniel took the paper from her, looked down at the number, and smiled. "Thank you, Amelia," he said. "Thank you for coming by. We really missed you and I'm sure that Uncle Raj will come around too. I think he still likes you, you know."

Amelia rolled her eyes. She blamed Minerva. It was her fault that her stepson thought this way. She was filling his head with ridiculous ideas. "I don't think so, Daniel," she said, giving him a look, "and when I said get back to how things were this was not what I meant. I don't need you or Minerva to hound me about feelings neither of us have for each other."

"Uh huh," Daniel said with an annoying smile. "Whatever you say."

Amelia rolled her eyes. She reached up and smacked him lightly on the cheek making him laugh. "You have not changed a bit," she said. She turned and walked towards the library doors. "Goodbye, Daniel. I'll come by again next weekend. Try not to burn down the house while I'm gone. It would be a shame for such a lovely house to go up in flames."

Daniel laughed, sat back down on the couch, and picked up his book. "Goodbye, Amelia," he said. "I'll try my best."


	6. James and Sirius Come to Town

_**Monday, January 5th 1998** _

Things were escalating. The war kept getting worse. Minerva had woken up this morning to news that Arnold Hastert and his wife Rolanda had been killed by Death Eaters. They had both been very active members of the Order and had done a lot of good in the Wizarding World. Minerva put her copy of the  _Daily Prophet_ away in her bedside table and got ready for the day. She did he best to cover up the dark eye circles. Sleep did not come easy when war raged outside. Minerva had been having horrible nightmares of Collins Mansion being overrun by Death Eaters and You-Know-Who himself.

Minerva walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to find Lucy half asleep in her cereal. She smiled a little and sat down beside her. "Alright, love?"

"Yeah," Lucy said with a yawn. "I don't want to go back to school."

"I know," Minerva said as she picked up a piece of toast and started buttering it. "You've been complaining about it for the past few days."

"She wasted most of her break dreading school starting again," Daniel said, coming into the kitchen with his backpack in his hands. He looked out the door and called, "Nina, let's go! You won't get breakfast if you take too much longer!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Nina called as she raced down the stairs towards the kitchen.

Raj came down behind her. "I already don't have time for breakfast," he said, coming into the kitchen with his briefcase. He walked over to the table and kissed the top of Lucy's head. "Have a nice day at school, Princess. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye, Uncle Raj," Lucy said.

"Grab a piece of toast on your way out, Raj," Minerva said, holding up the plate towards him so he could grab one. He did, said one last goodbye to all of them, and then ran towards the door. Minerva set the plate back down as Nina came over and sat down at the table as well. "If he woke up on time he would get to actually sit down and eat with us."

"He's always in a rush," Daniel said, picking up a carton of milk and pouring it into his cereal bowl. "Lucy, remember you have ballet today so get off at the right bus stop. Nina will pick you up after class."

"Okay," Lucy said.

"You have your ballet things, right love?" Nina asked.

"Yep."

"Okay, good," Nina said.

They ate their breakfast and then Daniel, Lucy, and Nina headed out. Minerva left a little while later, walking down the drive and Apparating just outside the gates. She arrived on the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds and walked up to the castle.

Classes began and dragged on endlessly. Their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was nowhere to be found so each professor gave up one of their free periods to teach a Defence class. Minerva got the fourth years right after lunch and was forced to go through the Unforgivable Curses with them. The class was all theoretical thankfully, which meant mostly note taking and only one actual demonstration. Minerva did not feel comfortable demonstrating on a spider but she did it for the sake of the student's education.

After classes ended, she walked up to her office and pulled out some essays she had assigned to begin marking. She hadn't been working for long when she was interrupted by a knocking at her door. She looked up and invited whoever it was inside. The door opened and in walked Albus Dumbledore. His robes swept the ground as he walked and the lack of twinkle in his eyes told Minerva that whatever news he was bringing her could not be good.

"What's happened?" she asked.

"Bernice Elfer is dead," he said sadly, closing the office door behind him and walking over to her desk. "When she didn't come into work today I had some Aurors go sweep her house. She and her entire family were killed by Death Eaters. They lived far from any other cities, surrounded by trees so no one noticed the Dark Mark in the sky."

Minerva put down her quill and leaned back in her seat. That was another Hogwarts professor slaughtered. She felt the tears overflow on her cheeks once again and hid her face behind her hands. Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair as well.

"Unfortunately that's not the only news I bring today," he said.

Minerva looked up quickly. "You can't be serious," she said, wiping her cheeks with her hands and looking up at him with a scared expression on her face. "Who else?"

"Darren Pettigrew."

"Oh no..." she whispered. "How?"

"Hit by a rogue curse during a raid. We can't be sure if he was killed by a Death Eater or an Order member," he replied sadly.

"It must have been a Death Eater, right? No one on our side would be using that kind of curse, right?" she replied. He doesn't respond. "Albus... it... it had to have been, right?"

"I don't know. Minerva," he replied, looking away. Suddenly Minerva knew the answer now too. He was protecting whoever it was that threw the curse and she didn't care. She didn't want to know who it was. She was happier not knowing.

"Does Peter know yet?" she asked instead. She thought of the young nineteen year old and a fresh wave of tears filled her eyes.

Dumbledore nodded. "He is with his mother right now," he said. "The Potters and the others are there now too."

"That poor boy," she whispered, shaking her head. She knew that Peter and his father had always been quite close. "I'll go see him and Candice later today. Maybe... maybe I can help in some way."

He nodded again and finally looked back at her. "We must find a new Defence Professor," he said. "We need someone to take Darren's place on the Hogsmeade patrol and we also need to make more arrangements for the new families that have arrived. Fifteen came today seeking refuge."

"Fifteen!" Minerva exclaimed. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"Things are escalating," he said. "More villages are being raided, more people displaced, and other countries have yet to begin taking as many refugees as they should be."

"Alright, well, Pomona can handle those arrangements. Space is not an issue yet and if it becomes one we will start outfitting unused classrooms," she continued briskly. She could talk business. It helped her forget. "I'll send word around the Order, hopefully someone will volunteer to take Darren's place. If not, we can assign someone. As for Defence, we can ask some of the refugees. One of them may be willing to lend a hand."

"That is a good idea," Dumbledore said with a nod. "Everyone will take a class tomorrow, the same as they did today. I'll conduct interviews that evening and whoever is best qualified can start on Wednesday. We'll need -"

"I'll send some owls to the Ministry and have the documents drafted," Minerva said. "I'll have them make it the contract for just the end of this year."

"We will get an actual professor then," he said with a nod. "Another thing -"

"What now?" Minerva said with a sigh.

"I fear with this escalation that the target on Hogwarts professors and their families have grown," he said. "Bernice's manor sat in the middle of a forest. They had a lot of protections and yet they were still found. I worry that Collins Mansion may not be as safe as it once was and you going back and forth as you are now will only increase the risk. Have you considered bringing Daniel and Lucy to Hogwarts as well? They will be safer here and you will be able to stay here full time to help with Order and Hogwarts business."

"Is this about their safety or my now limited schedule?" Minerva asked with a frown.

"Both," he replied honestly. "You are more useful here than you are in Rochester. Especially when Raj's presence makes it hard for you to use magic. Moving to Hogwarts would not only mend this issue but would also keep the children safer."

"It's complicated," Minerva said with a sigh. "I would love to bring them here. I agree that they would be safer at Hogwarts but they both have commitments in the Muggle world that neither would be very happy breaking. They would both be leaving their studies for god knows how long and... to be completely honest, they both need a little consistency right now. So much has changed just in the last few weeks for them, staying in Rochester will be more conducive to their recovery than leaving it would. Especially for Lucy."

Dumbledore sighed but nodded. "And you will want to go home every night then as well."

"At least for now," Minerva said with a nod. "They both need to see that I am here to stay and I will not be leaving again."

He nodded again. "Well," he said, "we should look into other options for keeping them safe. I do believe that Collins Mansion is no longer as safe as it should be but if you would still prefer to stay there then we should see what else we can do to make it safer."

"What else can we do?" Minerva asked. "We've already put every enchantment possible on it without making it unplottable."

"I can have Order members patrol the house every so often, just in case," he said. "They will be able to make sure that nothing suspicious is going on."

"Can we expend the wandpower?" Minerva asked.

"I believe we can," Dumbledore said with a nod. "I'm sure James and Sirius would be up for the task. I have not given them a task together in sometime and I'm sure Lily will be happy James isn't doing anything too dangerous now with the baby coming and all."

"You make sure those boys know that they're not supposed to be seen by Lucy or Raj either," Minerva said. "I don't want Lucy to worry and it would be quite hard to explain to Raj what two strange boys are doing on the property. Daniel and Nina know about the war and I can let them know that James and Sirius will be there but Lucy doesn't. She knows something is going on but she doesn't understand what. I don't want her to worry."

"Of course," he replied.

"Oh and make sure they take this seriously," Minerva said with a frown. "I don't want their funny business around at such a critical time."

Dumbledore smiled. "They're not children anymore, Minerva," he said. "I'm sure they'll take this seriously."

"I'm just making sure."

"Of course," he said again.

...

The next day, the Collins Mansion gate opened and closed though no one could be seen walking through. Suddenly, James Potter removed his Invisibility Cloak from is and Sirius Black's head and looked up at the mansion.

"So this is McGonagall's house," Sirius whispered, eyes wide as he looked up at the expansive grey stone manor. "Damn, she's loaded. I didn't know teachers make that much money."

"They don't," James said with a laugh and a shake of his head. "I told Lily about that Collins guy that McGonagall married and she said that he was this huge Muggle businessman. A billionaire, apparently."

"Billionaire? Well, she has good taste then, huh?" Sirius replied with a laugh as they begin walking around the perimeter of the house.

"I wish we could go inside. I'd love to see how big the house actually is," James said. "Maybe when the baby comes, Lily and I will move out of that tiny flat and into a huge house like this one."

"Why would you need a house like this for three people?"

"Why would you need it for four? That's all she has in here," James said defensively. "Or five I guess if you count that guy that stays with them every now and then."

"Why does he do that?" Sirius asked. "What's his name? Raj Patil. Why does he stay with them all the time?"

"McGonagall said that he's been helping them since her husband passed away," James said. "It's pretty nice of him. He was friends with McGonagall's husband. Lily said he's pretty high up in the husband's company too."

"I see," Sirius said as he got closer and craned his neck so he could look through a window. He could see into a dark living room. No one was home yet so all the lights inside were off. "They've got a huge TV."

"Well, you can't splurge on the house and then keep shitty stuff inside it," James said with a smile.

"Oh hey, we've met her kid haven't we," Sirius said.

"Yeah when she was like one or two."

"Do you think she remembers us?"

James laughed. "Nah man, she was one and it was so long ago now. Like five, six years. Besides, we're not allowed to let any of them see us."

"Heard the other kid's a Muggle," Sirius said.

"Yeah, her stepson. Not her real son."

"Cool of her to take care of him still."

"Well, I mean, he is her son now. Even if he is just a stepson," James said with a laugh.

Sirius shrugs. "Not something someone like my mum would do."

James gives him a half smile. "Sorry, I didn't think -"

"Gates opening," Sirius said suddenly. James quickly pulled the Invisibility cloak out again and tossed it on top of the both of them. They walked around to the front and waited to see who came through the gate.

"It's just a car," James whispered as a sleek black car came in through the gate and up the driveway. "I don't think Death Eaters drive."

"Should we follow them inside?" Sirius asked, giving James a mischievous smile. "Get that look around the inside like you wanted."

"I don't think that's a good idea," James said with a laugh, though they walk closer to the front door.

"- and then when she looked up there was a giant plastic spider on her desk and she completely freaked out!" Lucy told Nina as they get out of the car and start walking to the front door.

Nina laughed. "What did she do?"

"She screamed and flung it across the room with a piece of paper," Lucy replied with a laugh. "I've never seen anyone that scared before! The teacher was so mad! He told her that that was an overreaction and that she needed to pick up the plastic spider and apologize!"

"Did they find out it was you and Anne who pulled the prank?"

"Nope!" Lucy said excitedly. "Nobody knows."

"Wow, Lucy," Nina said with a smile and a shake of her head. They reached the front door and she pulled out her key. She unlocked the door and opened it for Lucy to go in. She was about to go in too when the keys slipped out of her hands. "Oops."

As she reached for them, door still wide open, Sirius grabbed James's arm and pulled him through the open door. James tried to stop him and pull him back outside but before he could Nina had walked through the door and closed it behind her. He gave Sirius an angry look but Sirius just smiled.

"Alright," Nina said as she took off her shoes and coat. "You go get changed and I'll find something for us to eat."

"Okay," Lucy said. "What are we going to have for dinner tonight?"

"Hmm, I was thinking we could just order a pizza or something," Nina said. "I don't really feel like cooking but we'll see what Uncle Raj, Minerva and Daniel think first."

"Okay," Lucy said again before running up the stairs. Nina walks through an archway to the kitchen.

"Now what, you idiot!" James whispered.

"We could follow one of them and pretend to be a ghost," Sirius said with a laugh. "That'd be fun."

"Come on, we're going back outside," James said. "How are we supposed to guard the house if we're inside?"

"Aw, come on. Can't we at least take a look around first?" Sirius asked. "I want to find Minerva's room."

"Since when do you call her Minerva?"

"Well, I mean if that kid can call her Minerva I think I can too."

"I think I'll just keep calling her Professor McGonagall," James mumbled. "Minerva feels weird."

Sirius laughed. He led James up the stairs. They looked at the pictures on the walls and the décor.

"It's a nice house on the inside too," James whispered. "But it's so big, how are we going to find McGonagall's room?"

"Trial and error?" Sirius suggested.

"Without letting anyone know we're here?"

"Very quiet trial and error?"

James rolled his eyes. He walked with Sirius towards the first door. Before Sirius could open it though, James stops him. "We should wait till Lucy goes downstairs," he said. "She's probably in one of these rooms and it'll probably scare her if the door to her room opens randomly out of nowhere."

"Good call," Sirius said. "See this is why you're the smart one."

"If I was smart I wouldn't have let you talk me into being in here in the first place," James mumbled with a shake of his head.

Sirius smiled. "Hey, you know you love it."

"I wish Remus was here. He's the real smart one," James smiled. "I'm just trying to be a little more serious, Sirius."

"Serious is not a good look on you, James," Sirius replied with a smile. "You should leave it to me."

James shook his head though he was still smiling. "I'm just saying that with everything going on we should really think about putting our goofy sides on hold for a bit," he said with a sigh. "At least until after the war is over, you know. I mean what if we're goofing off up here while Death Eaters are on their way to capture these people to get to McGonagall and Dumbledore."

"I guess you're right," Sirius conceded. "I mean, what if McGonagall comes and finds us here herself! I'm a lot more scared of her then of Death Eaters."

"Well, I guess that's something," James said with a laugh. "So we should go, right?"

"Yes, we should find McGonagall's room, look around a bit and then go and put our goofy sides on hold for a bit," Sirius said.

"Not what I -"

A door opened and Lucy walked out into the hallway. She had changed out of her school uniform and was humming to herself quietly as she walked through the hallway and down the stairs. James and Sirius held their breath as they watched her walk towards the kitchen. When she was finally out of earshot Sirius said, "Well, we know it's definitely not that one."

"Great, we've eliminated one out of like what twenty?"

"I think there's less than twenty rooms," Sirius said with a smile. He moved over to the first door and opened it up. They go through room after room finding guest bedrooms and closets and a bathroom but no master bedroom. Finally they found it on the other side of the hallway across from Lucy's bedroom. "Jackpot!"

"Don't touch anything," James whispered. "I am a hundred percent sure that if something is even a millimetre off she's going to know."

Sirius ignored him, walked out from under the Invisibility cloak into the room and looked around. There wasn't really much to see in the open. McGonagall's room was extremely clean, something Sirius had assumed would be true just by knowing his old teacher. He went to the bedside table. There was a framed family photo sitting on it. He picked it up and showed James, who was also out of the cloak now.

"Cute, huh?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

James rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't be touching that."

"This Jay Collins guy doesn't look that bad. I don't know. He doesn't look how I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know. No one that good looking, I guess."

James laughed and shook his head. "You're an idiot, you know that," he said as Sirius began rummaging through the bedside drawer. "What exactly is it you're looking for?"

"I don't know," Sirius said. He dug through the drawer before finding and pulling out a black leather book. He smiled. "Finally something interesting!"

"Don't read her journal, Sirius!" James said. "I know we're snooping around her bedroom but we have to leave some things private, right?"

"Calm down, Prongs," he said, opening up the book. He read the date on the first page and frowned. "That doesn't look like McGonagall's writing. I should know. I got a lot of detention slips written by her."

"Whose is it then?" James asked, moving over so he could get a better look. "And why does she have it?"

"I don't know," he said. "Look there's a drawing of a little boy. You think that's Daniel?"

Sirius turned it so James could see the drawing of a little eight year old boy playing the piano. "I don't know," he said. "Hard to tell. I don't know what Daniel looked like then."

Sirius flipped through some more pages before smiling and turning it around again. James saw four drawings of Minerva's head, each with a different expression. One was looking away with her fingers going through her hair, another looked very deep in thought, another with her eyes closed and a small smile on her face, and the last one was laughing.

" _July fourth 1987_ ," James read aloud. " _A dreary day that only felt like it was going to get drearier. With Daniel tucked away in bed at the hotel I decide to go across the street for a drink. Nothing special, just a quiet bar with bad lighting and worse food. I did not expect much but when I opened the door, I immediately locked eyes with the most beautiful woman I have ever met. Minerva McGonagall, she said, a teacher, no kids, married once before. Her blue eyes, her silky hair, her red lips, they were all perfect, but the most beautiful thing about her was the way she wore loss. We've both known loss but, while I hide it deep under the skin, she wore it out in the open and she made it beautiful._ "

"Wow," Sirius whispered. "This must have been her husband's journal."

"He really loved her," James said, taking the book from him and flipping through some more pages. Sirius came up beside him so he could see as well. They saw a sketch of Minerva in a wedding dress.  _August 4th, 1989_ was written on the top of the page. Jay had written all about the wedding. On the next page he had drawn a picture of his son, ten years old, in a nice suit holding rings.

"He was quite the artist," Sirius said.

"He was," James said. "Look. That must be Lucy."

Jay had drawn a baby crawling after a cat. The baby looked very happy.

"That's cute," Sirius said with a laugh. "Lucy used to play with her mum in cat form."

They looked at a couple more pictures before James closed the book and handed it back to Sirius. Sirius put it back in the drawer and opened the next one to see what was in there. James sat down on the bed with a sigh. Jay Collins seemed like a really nice man and a great father. It must have been very hard on all of them to lose him.

"Gross! Condoms!"

James looked up at his friend and laughed. "Well she had a kid. That means she had to do it at least once."

"Gross," Sirius said. "I don't want to think about that." He closed the drawer and stood up again. "Hmm... Oh I know, the medicine cabinet!"

James sighed and walked over to the window overlooking the front yard while Sirius made his way to the bathroom. He looked over the yard and saw nothing but snow. He wondered when Minerva was planning on coming home. He thought about how hard it must be to leave your children home alone while you dealt with a war they wouldn't understand. He hoped that the war would be over soon so that he wouldn't have to worry about that kind of thing once his baby was born.

"Nothing embarrassing in the medicine cabinet," Sirius said coming back into the room. "But there was a bunch of men's clothes in the closet."

"Probably her husband's," James said, turning around and looking at Sirius. "They probably haven't had a chance to get rid of it yet."

"When did he die?" Sirius asked.

"A month ago, I think."

"Sucks, man."

"Yeah," James said. "We should probably get out of here."

Sirius agreed and walked over to him so they could both get back under the Invisibility Cloak. They slowly opened the bedroom door and looked around quickly to make sure no one was there before moving out into the hallway and closing the door behind them. They slowly and quietly walk down the hallway and down the stairs but before they reached the bottom, the front door opened and they froze. In walked a tall man with darker skin and brown eye. James assumed this was Raj Patil. They heard footsteps running in from the kitchen. Lucy came out and raced over to him.

"Uncle Raj! Uncle Raj!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hello, Princess," Raj said with a smile, picking her up and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "How was your day at school?"

"It was okay," she said. "How come you're home so early?"

"I got off early, can you believe that?" he said with a laugh. "That barely ever happens."

"Yeah!" Lucy said. "You beat Daniel and Mum home!"

Raj smiled. "Well, why don't we celebrate by playing out in the snow outside? What do you think?"

"Okay!" Lucy said excitedly.

"Let me go get changed first and put this stuff away and then we'll go," he said, setting her down.

She nodded and he went to walk up the stairs. James pulled Sirius up against the handrail quickly before Raj could bump into one of them. Once he went by Sirius and James slowly began walking down the stairs again. They waited for Lucy to leave so they could get out of the house but she was putting on her coat now.

"She's not leaving!" Sirius whispered.

"Shh."

"Nina! Uncle Raj and I are going to play outside!" Lucy called towards the kitchen as she sat down and pulled her boots on.

"Okay, love," Nina called back. "Don't forget to put on your hat and mittens!"

James slowly came down the last step and moved away from the stairs. It was too dangerous for them to wait there when Raj was going to be coming down soon.

"Okay!" Lucy yelled, picking up her hat and putting it on top of her head.

"James, what are we going to -"

James quickly covered Sirius's mouth as Lucy turned towards them quickly. She looked around but saw nothing. Lucy frowned and walked forward a little. James and Sirius walked backwards away from her.

"Hello?" she asked. "Daniel, are you here? Are you trying to play a trick on me?"

James and Sirius held their breath as she walked even closer to them. They were up against the wall now with nowhere to go. Before Lucy could touch them though, Raj came down the stairs again and looked over at her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing," Lucy said, running back over to him. "I think I'm hearing things."

Raj smiled. "You think that house is haunted?"

"It's the ghost of that used to live under my bed!" Lucy exclaimed dramatically making Raj laugh. She smiled and shook her head. "No, he still lives under my bed. He's a nice ghost though."

"Is he?" Raj asked as he put on his coat. He handed Lucy her mittens and she put them on.

"Yes," Lucy said with a nod. "I named him Boo. He's a little kid ghost."

"I see," Raj said with a smile, putting on his shoes and opening the door. "Shall we go?"

Lucy nodded and walked out into the cold outside. Raj smiled and followed after her. When the door closed James smacked Sirius's arm.

"You're an idiot," he said quietly as he walked back towards the door. "We'll wait a few minutes for them to walk around to the back and then go."

Sirius nodded. He smiled stupidly and said, "that was pretty fun, though. You have to admit."

James rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You're hopeless."

They waited a little while and then James opened the door quietly. He looked around and saw nothing so led Sirius out of the house and closed the door gently behind them. They walked down the steps and start walking around the house when they see the gate open again and another car come in. The car pulled up to the front of the house and this time Minerva and Daniel got out. They waited by the door for Daniel and Minerva to walk by up the steps.

"Pssst."

Minerva turned back with a frown and Daniel stopped walking too. He looked at her with a frown. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I - oh, James, Sirius, is that you?" she said a little exasperatedly.

Sirius took the Invisibility Cloak off the top of his head while still keeping it over his body to make it look like his head was floating in space. Daniel's eyes went wide before he laughed.

"Wow!" he said, walking back down the steps again and standing beside his stepmother.

"Sirius Black," he said, sticking his hand out of the cloak too so now he was a floating head and hand.

"Daniel Collins," Daniel said with a smile, shaking Sirius's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

James comes out of the cloak as well and smiled at Daniel. "James Potter," he said. "It's nice to finally meet you, Daniel."

"It's nice to finally meet you both as well," Daniel said. "I've just heard a lot of complaining about you."

"Really?" James said with a laugh.

"Ahh, you complained about us to your family, Professor?" Sirius said. "I feel so honoured!"

"What are you two doing?" Minerva said with a frown. "You're supposed to be guarding the house and keeping an eye on the others. Not talking to us."

"We are watching out for everyone," James said. "Nina's in the kitchen and Lucy and Mr. Patil are playing in the backyard."

"Uncle Raj is home already?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, said he got off work early," Sirius said.

Minerva didn't like that James and Sirius could hear everything that went on in the house from out here. So much for her and her family's privacy. She supposed she had to give up some if it in order to keep them safe.

"Well," she said, "you should be careful then if they're outside. They might hear you or see you. You're not supposed to be seen, remember?"

"We'll be careful, don't worry," James said.

"How come Mr. Patil doesn't know about magic but everyone else does?" Sirius asked.

"That is not your concern," Minerva said, turning around and walking back up towards the door. "Get back under the cloak and be careful. Don't blow your cover on the very first day."

Daniel looked up at Minerva and then back at the boys with a smile. "Thanks for doing this," he said. "I appreciate you keeping us safe."

"Of course," James said with a smile. "We'd do anything for our favourite teacher and her family."

"Do you think Lucy remembers us?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think so," Daniel said with a shake of his head. "She was pretty young when you guys met. She still has that cat that you gave her though."

"Really?" Sirius asked brightly. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah," Daniel said. "Well, I should get going. Thanks again."

"No problemo," Sirius said.

"See you, Daniel," James said.

They got back under the cloak and watched Daniel disappear inside. Sirius turned back to James. "He's really nice."

"He is," James said. "Now, come on. Let's get serious."

"But I'm right here," Sirius said annoyingly.

James sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."

Back inside Daniel took his coat and shoes off and looked over at Minerva who had been waiting for him. She was looking out the window to make sure James and Sirius were back under the Invisibility Cloak.

"They seem nice," he said. "Don't know why you're complaint about them all the time."

"You'll learn soon enough, I'm sure," Minerva muttered, fixing the curtain and turning around.

Daniel laughed and shook his head. "They did bring up a good point though," he said. "Why don't we just tell Uncle Raj about magic? You know how much easier that would make our lives? Then he'd actually understand why you were gone for so long and you guys wouldn't be so awkward around each other anymore."

"We aren't awkward around each other," Minerva said with a frown.

"Sure," Daniel said sarcastically. "Not at all."

"We're not," Minerva said. "Besides, I don't know if even that would help. I think it might be best to just leave it as it is."

Daniel sighed. "Fine but when ultimately Lucy let's it slip to him, because she is obviously going to do that at some point, it's just a matter of time," he said. "And things get better, I won't hold back my 'I told you so'."

"I would never expect you too," Minerva said with a smile, following him towards the kitchen. "It's a shame that Lucy's brother has so little faith in her."

"Lucy was the one who told Nina," Daniel said with a laugh. "Literally the first day they spent just the two of them together."

Minerva paused for a second. "All right, so you may be right," she said with a shake of her head. "If it happens and things don't get better, don't expect me to hold back my 'I told you so' either."

"I would never," he said with a laugh.

* * *

_**Saturday, January 10th 1998** _

Lucy sat at the kitchen table, kicking her feet back and forth, waiting. Raj and Minerva were sitting at the table as well. Raj was reading the morning newspaper and Minerva was reading a book. Daniel and Nina had gone out and would be out for the day. They were taking full advantage of Minerva and Raj being at home to look after Lucy. With Jay in the hospital and Daniel having to drive himself and Lucy up to London to see him every day, he and Nina had not gotten much of a chance to go out on very many dates.

Raj looked over at Lucy and smiled. He looked down at his watch and said, "it won't be too long now, love. She should be here soon."

"I'm so bored!" Lucy said with a sigh, putting her head down in her arms. "Where is she? She's late!"

Minerva looked up from her book and smiled as well. "Lucy, it's only been five minutes," she said. "Give it time."

Lucy sighed and got up. "I'm going to -"

Just then the doorbell rang. Lucy turned and ran to the door immediately. Raj laughed and shook his head. Lucy raced up to the front door and swung it open. Standing in front of it was a tall, skinny girl with blonde hair, blue eyes and a lot of freckles.

"Hey, Anne!" Lucy said with a smile.

"Hey, Lucy," Anne Linwood said, walking into the house. She turned around and waved at her mother before the car in the driveway drove away. She closed the door and turned back to Lucy. "So, what's up?"

"Not much. We got back from Scotland a couple days ago," Lucy said as Anne took off her shoes and coat.

"How was that?" she asked, looking up at her friend with a concerned look on her face.

"It was good, actually," Lucy said with a smile. "I really missed everyone. My grandmother even promised to call almost every day so we can talk all the time. She bought a phone for herself."

"She didn't have a phone?" Anne said. "That's weird."

"Yeah, but she has one now," Lucy said. "So now we can call her and she can call us."

"That's nice," Anne said. "I told you the trip would go well. And you were worried. You should really listen to me more."

"Oh my god," Lucy muttered, rolling her eyes. "So, how was your Christmas?"

"It was good. Oh, hey, I brought your Christmas present," Anne said, taking off her backpack and pulling out a box wrapped in red paper. She hands it over to Lucy. "Merry Christmas!"

"Thanks!" Lucy said, taking the gift from her friends. "Come on, your present is upstairs in my room. Uncle Raj and my mum are in the kitchen if you want to say hi."

Anne nodded and Lucy led the way to the kitchen. Raj and Minerva were still sitting at the kitchen table ignoring each other.

"Anne's here," Lucy said.

Raj looked up and smiled. "Hello, Anne," he said. "How are you doing?"

"Hello, Mr. Patil. I'm good," Anne said. "How was your Christmas?"

"It was good," Raj said. "Yourself?"

"It was good. We went up to my Grandmother's house in Brighton," Anne said. "It snowed so much there."

Minerva smiled. "Hello, Miss Linwood," she said, sticking her hand out for Anne to shake. "I'm Minerva McGonagall, Lucy's mother."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. McGonagall," Anne said with a polite smile, walking over and shaking her hand.

"You as well," Minerva said with a smile.

"Anne and I are going to go hang out in my room," Lucy said.

Minerva nod. "Alright, have fun."

She watched the two girls run out of the kitchen and then turned back to Raj. "I've been speaking with Nina," she said. "About how Lucy is doing in school."

"Perfect grades," Raj said, picking his newspaper back up and disappearing behind it yet again.

"No, I mean with the other children," Minerva said. Raj lowered his paper and a frown appeared on his face but he didn't say anything. "Nina has told me that she hasn't really been getting along with some of the other girls at school and she only ever talks about one friend. I'm worried about her."

Raj sighed and folded up his newspaper, sitting up straighter in his seat. "I don't know much," he said. "All I know is second hand from what Lucy's told Nina which isn't much but apparently there is a group of girls who are not very nice to her. They make fun of her for being so much younger than everyone else and stuff like that."

Minerva sighed too. "Have you talked to the school?"

"Of course," Raj said with a nod. "I've talked to the administration and to Lucy's homeroom teacher directly but they don't do much. You probably have a better understanding of student-teacher politics than I do."

"Maybe I'll try talking to her."

"You can try. She doesn't like talking about it to anyone except for Anne," Raj said. "Sometimes Nina but that's not that much either."

"Of course she talks to Nina about it," Minerva muttered.

Raj frowned, crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Are you jealous of Nina?"

"What? Of course not."

"Really?" Raj said with a raised eyebrow. "So you it doesn't affect you when Lucy runs to Nina first before going to you? That she asks Nina for help when she needs it. That she goes to Nina and Daniel's bedroom at night when she has a nightmare instead of yours."

"She goes to their bedroom at night?" Minerva asked with a frown.

Raj closed his eyes and nodded. "Every single night," he said. "Still having nightmares."

"I - I didn't know that," Minerva said softly. "I knew that Nina stayed in her room when we were in Castletown but I thought that was just because she was a little scared to be up in Scotland after so long. I didn't know that she was having nightmares."

"She talks to Nina about them," Raj said. "She said that they mostly involve Jay in the hospital."

Minerva sighed again and looked down. She didn't know what to say. "I can talk to her about it too."

"You can try. She doesn't even talk to Daniel about it," he said. "Nina's a good kid and she and Lucy have gotten very close over these last few months. There is no doubt in my mind that even if it didn't work out between her and Daniel, she would still come here to see Lucy all the time. Don't take out your frustration about your relationship with Lucy on her."

"I would never," Minerva said with a frown. "Have I ever done anything to indicate that I don't appreciate everything Nina has done?"

"No, but I see the way you look at them when she does something for Lucy that you feel you should be doing," Raj said.

Minerva crossed her arms and looked away from him. "You are a great man, Raj," she said. "Again, I appreciate everything you've done for us but... but sometimes you can be a real asshole."

Raj couldn't help but smile a little bit. He shook his head and got up. "It's odd hearing words like that coming from your mouth."

"And why's that?" Minerva asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Are you going to get lunch or shall I?"

"I'll do it. I know you have work to get done."

"I'll be in the office," Raj said, walking out of the kitchen.

Minerva sighed and shook her head again. She got up and walked towards the kitchen to get started on lunch. She walked to the sink to wash her hands when suddenly two heads appears in the window over the sink. Minerva jumped and put her hand over her heart. She shook her head and opened the window.

"Are you two trying to give me a heart attack?" she asked, looking around quickly to make sure she was alone in the kitchen.

"Sorry, Professor," James said with a laugh. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Thought you might like an update," Sirius said. "So far nothing."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "You know, you two are very bad at being inconspicuous," she muttered. They just smiled stupidly up at her. She shook her head at them. "How's Peter doing?"

James sighed. "He's avoiding us right now."

"Doesn't want to talk to anyone but his mother," Sirius replied. "We're giving him some space."

Minerva nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

There was silence for a while before Sirius decided to change the subject. "So there's a friend," he said with a small smile. "Is she a Muggle?"

"Yes," Minerva said. "She is."

"She looks a lot older than Lucy," James said.

"Lucy's been bumped up in school. She took a placement test and ranked five years higher than she should be," Minerva said, leaning on the window sill. The cool January air made the hairs on her arms stand on end. "so a lot of her friends are five years older than her."

"Wow," Sirius said. "Smart kid."

"She's McGonagall's daughter, what did you expect?" James said with a laugh. "Oh man, the other day we saw her doing like a lot of magic. It looked like she was practicing in the living room, making books move around and stuff."

"Without a wand and everything," Sirius said.

"Yes, her magic is very strong it seems," Minerva replied with a nod.

"Strong magic and super smart. That's a dangerous combination," James said with a smile. "Something tells me that she's going to be quite the troublemaker when she starts at Hogwarts."

Minerva smiled a little. Sirius smirked. "That could be bad for us. She may overthrow us as the prank kings of Hogwarts."

"I don't think that's possible," Minerva replied with a smile. "Besides, Lucy is very well behaved. I doubt that Hogwarts will change that."

"I don't know, Professor," James said with a laugh. "That's what my parents thought too. Then they started receiving letters from you almost every week telling them how not well behaved I was."

"Oh man, that's going to suck for her. Her mother's going to be at Hogwarts too!" Sirius exclaimed. "She won't get the same sort of freedom we got."

"Aw, poor kid," James said.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "I doubt it'll be a problem."

"Don't you think it'll be weird having your own kid in your class?" James asked.

"What if you have to give her a failing grade?" Sirius said. "That would make family dinners pretty awkward."

"I don't think that I would ever have to give Lucy a failing grade. I think she is incapable of receiving one," Minerva retorted.

"Well, every parent thinks their kid is perfect in every way," James said with a laugh.

"She is five years ahead of the rest of the kids her age, though James," Sirius said. "Maybe she is incapable of getting a failing grade."

"Well, my kid's definitely going to be a troublemaker so I'd watch out, Professor," James said.

"I will personally teach him everything I know," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Oh no," Minerva muttered. "I thought I was rid of your brand of havoc now."

"You will never be rid of us," Sirius said.

"We'll be here constantly for your havoc wreaking pleasure," James said.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Alright well, why don't you two actually get back to your job and I will get back to mine," she muttered, reaching up to close the window.

"Alright, bye Professor," James said with a smile.

"Bye, McGee," Sirius said with a laugh.

Minerva didn't bother responding. She closed the window and watched the boys pull the Invisibility Cloak over their heads before turning to make lunch for herself, Raj, and the girls.

...

The doorbell rang. Minerva got up from her seat at the kitchen table and walked towards the front door. She opened it up to find a woman with blond hair and blue eyes smiling at her.

"Hello, I'm Lisa Linwood," she said, sticking her hand out for Minerva to shake. "You must be Lucy's mother. Anne told me that you were back."

Minerva smiled and shook Lisa's hand. "Hi, yes. I'm Minerva McGonagall," she said. "It's nice to meet you."

"You as well. I suppose the girls are too busy having fun to notice that I'm here," Lisa said with a smile, looking passed Minerva and up the stairs.

"That seems likely," Minerva replied. "Why don't you come in for tea? Give them a little more time to play."

"No, that's not necess-"

"Oh, it's alright. I insist. Please come in," Minerva said, motioning her into the house.

Lisa smiled and walked in. She took off her boots and coat before following Minerva into the kitchen. She sat down while Minerva made tea for the both of them.

"Is Raj here?"

"Yes," Minerva said with a nod. "He's in the office. Had some work to get done."

"Always working," Lisa said. "That man never stops. He's either working for Collins Enterprises or taking care of the children."

"Yes," Minerva said. "He has done a lot for us, I must say. He's handling all the business stuff for us. It helps not to have to think about it. It's all so complicated. "

"I can imagine," she said. "So, you're a teacher?"

"Yes, I teach physics," Minerva said. Lisa nodded. "Do you work?"

"No, I'm just at home," she replied. Minerva walked over to the table and held out a cup for Lisa. She took it and smiled. "Thank you."

"Not a problem," Minerva said. She sat down and sighed. "Daniel told me that you helped them out a lot while my husband was in the hospital and I was unavailable as well. Thank you for everything you did for my family."

Lisa smiled. "Oh, it's no problem at all," she said, taking a sip of her tea. "They are both great kids. Daniel took very good care of Lucy while Jay was in hospital. He and Raj did everything. I just helped out whenever I could."

"Still, I appreciate it," Minerva replied. "Anne is a very nice young woman as well. Very polite and well behaved."

"Thank you," Lisa said with a smile. "Honestly, that girl is only like that when she's out of the house. At home, she is... not."

Minerva laughed. "Lucy is the same."

"They are very similar. Even with the age difference. When she first told me about Lucy, I will admit that I was a little worried about her. A five year old girl thrown in with a bunch of ten year olds but she seems to hold her own very well. You must be very proud."

"I am," Minerva said with a smile. "I always knew that Lucy was quite smart for her age. She would remember everything and used to copy the words on Jay's work papers into her notebook."

"She's quite special," Lisa agreed with a smile. "Anne told me about her winning that award for her essay two months ago."

"Oh? She didn't tell me about that."

"She didn't? They had to write a short little essay about Pre-Roman Britain and their teacher was very happy with Lucy's. She had her submit it for a contest and she won," Lisa said. "She got a small plaque and I think one hundred and fifty pounds. Probably not really much for you all but still quite impressive."

"Wow, yes that is quite impressive," Minerva said. "I'll ask her about it."

"I think her self-esteem took quite a hit a while ago," Lisa said sadly. "Like I said, she was still a five year old girl thrown in with a bunch of ten year olds. She had some problems with some of the other girls but she was able to deal with them before. Then Jay got admitted to the hospital and... I don't know. She hasn't really been the same."

Minerva frowned. "I've been told over and over about these other girls," she said. "Who are they and what are they saying?"

"I don't know. You know kids. They don't tell their parents these things. I only know bits and pieces that I've managed to get out of Anne," she replied. She sighed and shook her head. "Well, I'm sure now that you're back things will go back to normal soon enough."

"Hmm," Minerva mumbled, not very convinced and still quite worried about her daughter. She wondered if maybe she should go down to that school herself and see what she could do.

Just then footsteps could be heard running down the stairs towards the kitchen. Lucy and Anne ran into the kitchen. Anne saw her mother and smiled.

"Oh, hey Mum!"

"Hello, Mrs. Linwood."

"Hello, Anne. Hello, Lucy. How was your day?" Lisa said with a smile.

"It was good," Anne said, walking over to her mother. "We played some games and just hung out in Lucy's room."

"I beat Anne at checkers," Lucy said with a smile.

"I still think you cheated."

"You always say that when I win."

"Okay... maybe I just suck at checker," Anne replied with a laugh.

Minerva and Lisa laughed. Lisa finished her tea and stood up. "Well, Minerva. Thank you for the tea but we should really get going," she said. "Maybe you and the others could come over for dinner sometime next weekend. We would love to have you."

Minerva stood up too and smiled. "That would be lovely."

"Wonderful," Lisa said with a smile. "I'll give you a call later and iron out the details. Anne say goodbye and put on your coat."

Minerva and Lucy walked Anne and Lisa to the front door. They said their goodbyes and walked out into the cold. Minerva closed the door behind them and turned around to look at Lucy.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yep!" Lucy said, turning to walk back to the kitchen. Minerva followed her. "I always have fun when Anne's around."

Minerva smiled. "Well, Mrs. Linwood told me that you won an award for an essay you wrote a little while ago. How come you didn't tell me?"

Lucy shrugged. "It's not that important."

"I think it's important," Minerva said as they made it back to the kitchen and sat down at the table. "I would love to read your essay. Do you still have it?"

Lucy nodded. "It's upstairs in my desk somewhere," she said. "I can find it for you if you want but it's pretty boring. I don't think you'd want to read it."

"I would like to read it. I want to see what essay won you a hundred fifty pounds," Minerva said with a smile.

"Okay," Lucy said.

"What did you spend the money on?"

"I haven't spent any of it. It's in my piggybank upstairs."

"Wow, you're good at saving," Minerva said with a smile. "That's a good skill to have. What exactly are you saving for?"

"I don't know," Lucy said with a shrug.

"Well, it's still good to save," Minerva said. "Ah, so... Lucy, I know that you're having nightmares and going into Nina and Daniel's room at night."

Lucy cheeks went a little red and she looked down quickly. She was embarrassed. She was six years old. She wasn't supposed to need someone else with her to get to sleep. She should be sleeping on her own like a big girl.

"It's okay," Minerva said. "You don't have to be embarrassed. I just thought you might want to talk about it. It might help."

Lucy shook her head. She really did not want to talk about it at all.

Just then Raj walked into the kitchen and saw them sitting at the table. He smiled at Lucy as he walked towards the kitchen to pour himself another cup of coffee. "Did Anne leave?"

"Yeah, her mum picked her up," Lucy said, looking back at him.

"Did you guys have fun?"

"Yep," Lucy said. "I like when Anne comes over. She's very fun."

Raj smiled. "Well, I was thinking," he said. "I know it's my turn to make dinner but why don't we just go out for dinner today when Daniel and Nina get back."

"Okay!" Lucy said.

"If you don't want to cook, Raj, you can always just say so," Minerva said with a small smile.

"Eh, this is my way of making up for not wanting to cook. Besides Brettington's has a lot better food than I could possibly make," he said, taking a sip of his coffee and making a face. He grabbed some sugar and added it to the mug.

"Uncle Raj," Lucy said, "did you know that a city in America tried to make snow illegal in 1992?"

"I did not know that," Raj said, walking around the counter and coming over to sit down at the table.

"Really?" Minerva said with a smile.

"Yes, Syracuse. It's one of America's snowiest major cities and so they tried to control it by passing a decree that made illegal for it to snow anymore before Christmas Eve but then it snowed only two days later," Lucy said with a smile, turning back to look at Minerva. "I guess Mother Nature didn't care about the law."

"Wow, that is -"

"Stupid?"

"Very stupid," Minerva said with a laugh. She smiled and shook her head. "Are you sure that it's true?"

Lucy nodded. "I read it in a book about weird laws," she said.

"What other laws did you read about?" Raj asked.

"In a city called Mobile in Alabama, it's illegal to throw confetti or spray silly string," Lucy said with a smile.

"Well, I kind of agree with that one," Minerva said. "Very messy."

Lucy laughed.

"But it's fun," Raj said with a stupid smile.

Minerva shrugged and Lucy shook her head. "In Thailand it's illegal to step on money and in Singapore it's illegal to chew gum and here in Britain it's illegal to handle salmon in suspicious circumstance!"

Raj laughed. "Suspicious circumstance?"

"It sounds really funny but it was actually to stop illegal salmon poaching. They made it illegal to buy salmon that is believed or could reasonably be believed to have been illegally fished," Lucy said with a smile. "I looked it up after I read it because I wanted to know what they meant by  _suspicious circumstance_ too."

Raj smiled and nodded. "I see."

"It's also illegal in England to die in the House of Parliament but I'm pretty sure if you did you probably wouldn't get in trouble."

"No," Minerva said with a laugh. She shook her head and stood up, walking towards the kitchen door. "Alright, that's enough silly laws. Nina and Daniel will be home soon. Why don't we get ready to leave for the restaurant?"

"Okay," Lucy said with a smile. She stood up too and quickly scurried over to Minerva. She took her hand and followed her mother out of the kitchen.


	7. Notebooks and Ballet Shoes

**_February 1988_ **

_Minerva sat down on the bed with a sigh. She had just gotten out of the shower after she and Jay had had some fun. Daniel was away at a friend's house for the night so they had decided to take full advantage of their night alone. Jay was laying on the bed with a small black leather bound notebook open and a pen in hand. Minerva used her wand to dry her hair and then combed through it before laying down on the bed on her stomach and drawing small circles on his chest with her finger. Jay smiled and looked down at her._

" _What are you doing?" she asked softly. "What are you always writing in that thing?"_

" _My journal? Oh, I just write about my day, you, Daniel, anything that comes to mind really," he said with a smile._

" _It didn't look like you were writing earlier," she said. "It looked like you were drawing."_

" _I was," he said._

" _What were you drawing?"_

" _You," he said._

" _Me?" she asked. "I hope I was wearing clothes in that."_

" _Oh it was just your face," he said with a laugh. "Don't worry."_

" _Well, can I see?"_

" _I suppose," Jay said. He flipped the page back and turned his journal around. Minerva saw the sketch that he had made of her looking off to the side. Her hair was done up in a bun and her expression looked like she was concentrating._

" _Wow," Minerva said. "Did you draw that all from memory?"_

" _I've got a pretty good memory when it comes to visuals like this," he said with a smile. "Do you like it?"_

" _It's brilliant," she said, sitting up properly and taking the journal from him. "I had no idea that you were such a talented artist."_

_He smiled. "I just dabble."_

" _This isn't dabbling. This is really good," she said, flipping through the book and looking at his other drawings. She saw drawings of Daniel, Raj, the Collins Enterprises Building. There were more drawings of her. The day they first met, on a date, with Daniel._

_He grabbed the journal back quickly. "Hey," he said. "Did I say you could look at those?"_

_Minerva laughed. "I like your drawings," she said, moving closer to him and hugging his chest. "I would love to see more of them."_

" _Not now," he said, putting his book down on the bedside table and wrapping both arms around her. "Right now the only masterpiece I want to look at is you."_

_She laughed and shook her head as he started kissing her neck. "Again?" she asked. "I just showered."_

" _How often is Daniel away at a friend's house?"_

" _Alright, again," Minerva said with a laugh, lifting his head up so she could kiss his lips. He smiled into the kiss and ran his fingers through her hair._

* * *

**_Thursday, January 29th 1998_ **

Lucy yawned as she picked up the milk carton and poured it into her cereal. It was just her, Daniel and Minerva sitting at the table this morning. Raj and Nina had both left already. Nina had some early classes so had to leave a lot earlier than usual and Raj always left earlier than everyone else because he had to drive for an hour into London.

"Lucy, I wanted to give you this back," Minerva said, picking up Jay's journal and holding it out for her. "Thank you for letting me read it."

"You're welcome," Lucy said with a smile, taking the book back. She picked up her backpack and puts the notebook inside, not really wanting to run upstairs to her bedroom right now. "Today is the try-outs for the next recital. I hope I get a solo."

"Oh, are try-outs today?" Daniel asked. "Good luck, kid."

"Thank you," Lucy said.

"Yes, good luck," Minerva said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. I can't wait to come to your recital."

"What are you trying out for?" Daniel asked.

"A solo and a duet with Wendy Linton," Lucy said. "We've been practicing a lot. I hope we get the duet and then hopefully I'll get a solo too and then I'll dance three times at the recital. One solo, one duet, and then one group."

"That's exciting," Minerva said with a smile. She looked over at the kitchen cloak. "Well, you two should probably head out if you don't want to be late for school."

Daniel nodded and he and Lucy got up. They said one last goodbye before heading out for school. Minerva left a little while later for Hogwarts.

Throughout the day, Lucy was very nervous about the try-outs. Anne kept assuring her that she would be okay but Lucy still couldn't relax. After school, Mrs. Linwood gave her a ride to the dance studio so she got there a lot earlier than usual. Lucy changed into her dance clothes, put her things away in her locker, and sat down on the ground beside the lockers. She had pulled out Jay's notebook and was reading his entry on the day of her first ballet recital. She looked at the sketch of herself at three years old doing a pirouette on the stage.

_Three years old and already showing so much promise in Ballet. Minerva's laughing at me for getting so excited. She claims I'm only saying this because she's my daughter and I would love anything she did but I do think that Lucy is a great dancer. She looked so happy up on that stage. You could tell that she was really having fun up there. I can't wait to see her dance when she's a little older. I can't wait to see how much she improves._

Lucy smiled a little and felt the tears fill her eyes again. She wished her father was here. She felt less nervous now and wiped the tears away from her face. She closed the book and put it away as the doors to the studio opened and the other children started walking in. Lucy's teacher, Ms. Jade walked in and herded everyone into the studio.

The try-outs started and Lucy watched as names were called and people did their routines. She and Wendy were called soon enough and they did the dance that they had been practicing. They did it perfectly, no mistakes, and Ms. Jade was very impressed. The girls sat down on a bench and drank some water as the next duet started.

"You were really good," Lucy said.

"Thank you," Wendy said. "I was a little worried about the last  _Grande Jeté_  but it was okay. You did really good as well. I'm glad you were my partner."

"Thanks," Lucy said with a smile. She liked Wendy. She was one of the nicest kids in Lucy's class. Most of the others were a little rude and quite full of themselves.

Eventually it was time for the solos and Lucy took her turn. She danced her routine, spinning and jumping at the right times. She imagined her father sitting in the back watching her with a smile on his face and it motivated her to concentrate harder. She wanted to do the best she could, especially if her dad was watching.

"That was wonderful, Lucy. Thank you," Ms. Jade said when she was done.  _Wonderful_  was not a word that Ms. Jade used lightly. She had a couple of notes but mostly it was praise. Lucy was very happy with herself. She sat back down with Wendy to watch the rest of the try-outs.

"Alright, thank you everyone," Ms. Jade said at the end of the day. "I shall look over everything and make my decisions. I'll post the sheet outside before next class. Monday's class will proceed as normal. Have a nice evening."

Lucy followed the rest of the children out to the lockers. She changed into some regular clothes and put on her coat and backpack. She sat down on the bench to wait for Nina to come pick her up. Slowly everyone left until it was just Lucy waiting. She wondered where Nina was. She was never this late. She pulled out Jay's journal to read while she waited.

"What are you still doing here?"

Lucy turned around and saw Kate, Grace and Tiffany coming towards her. These were the girls at her school that were always rude to her. Lucy didn't know why they hated her so much and she hated that they went to the same ballet studio as her too.

"Waiting," Lucy said. "Same as you."

"Except my dad's coming to pick us up," Grace said with a horrible laugh. "Not really the same thing, is it?"

Lucy looked down at her book and sighed. The girls laughed at her and headed over to the lockers. Lucy wondered why it took them so long to come out of the studio. Class had been over for a while. She could hear them whispering behind her and did her best to ignore them.

"Did you see the way she landed on that last jump?"

"She's so bad. I don't understand why she's here!"

"I don't understand why Ms. Jade likes her so much."

"She can't dance at all!"

Lucy opened the journal to Lucy's second recital. Jay had gone to every single one until he was admitted to the hospital and he had written about them all. She read what he wrote and smiled to herself. She could dance. They could say whatever they liked but Lucy knew that she was a good dancer.

"What's even the point of giving her a solo? Nobody comes to watch her anyways."

"My mum's coming," Lucy said suddenly before she could stop herself. She felt all three girls stare at her back.

"You're such a liar," Kate said. "We all know that your mum's not here. She couldn't wait to get out of here once she saw your ugly face."

The other two girls laughed and Lucy turned around and looked at them. She closed her book and shook her head. "No, you're wrong," Lucy said. "She came back and she's excited to come watch me dance. She said she loves watching me dance. She thinks I'm a very good dancer."

"If that were true then how come she hasn't come to any for like years?" Tiffany asked. "We all know you're lying, Lucy. Just stop. It's sad."

"I'm not lying!" Lucy said, hugging her father's journal close to her chest. "She's back. She'll probably be home from work soon and I'll tell her all about the try-outs and how good I was and how bad you three were."

"That would be a lie," Kate said, glaring at her as she walked closer to the bench angrily. Lucy didn't move. She stood her ground.

"No, it's the truth. You're not a very good dancer, Kate," she said. She gave her a polite little smile. "That's why you haven't had a solo in so long."

"You're such an idiot," Kate said. She snatched the book out of Lucy's hand and looked at it. "What is this?"

"Don't touch that!" Lucy yelled, getting up to her feet quickly and trying to grab it back. Kate smiled evilly and held the book back out of her reach. "Give it back! That's not yours."

Kate pushed her back and opened the notebook so she could see what was written inside. "What's this?" she asked, smiling evilly. "Your diary?"

"No!" Lucy cried. "Give it back!"

"Tell me whose it was?" Kate said. "Did you steal it?"

"No! My dad gave it to me," Lucy said, tears filling her eyes. "Please give it back. It's his book and I have to take care of it."

Kate laughed. She looked back at her friends. "Look guys," she said. "Lucy's dad used to write in a diary. He even drew pictures!"

They laughed.

"So? What's your problem?" Lucy said angrily, moving closer and trying to grab the notebook back. "Give it back, Kate. It doesn't belong to you. Please give it back."

Kate looked back at her and pushed her back again. Lucy fell down onto her butt. The tears started to overflow down her cheeks now. It had hurt a lot.

"You're supposed to take care of it, huh?" Kate said. She grabbed one of the pages in her fist and in one quick motion ripped it in half. "Oops."

Tiffany and Grace didn't have time to laugh. Before anyone knew was going on, Lucy had gotten up and jumped on top of Kate. She punched the girl right in the nose. Kate screamed and dropped Jay's notebook. Lucy kept hitting her as she screamed and tried to get away. The other two girls just stood there in complete shock, watching with wide eyes. Kate tried to punch Lucy back but Lucy moved out of the way and bit down on her arm.

The dance studio doors burst open and Ms. Jade came running out to investigate what all the racket was. When she saw the two girls fighting on the ground she rushed over to stop them. "What is going on? Stop this! Stop this immediately," she yelled as she pulled Lucy from on top of Kate. "What is the meaning of this? This is not how young ladies behave!"

"She attacked me!" Kate exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet. Her nose was bleeding and tears fell down her cheeks.

"Miss Collins is this true?" Ms. Jade said, turning Lucy around to face her. Lucy also had tears in her eyes. The teacher kneeled down and took the girl's hands in hers. She nodded slightly. Ms. Jade was shocked, she had not expected such behaviour from her best student. "Miss Collins, I am very disappointed in you. I do not know what caused you to act this way but you will apologise this instance and then accompany me to the Headmaster's office to wait for your brother."

"No!" Lucy yelled, pulling away from Ms. Jade. Tears were blurring her vision and she rubbed her eyes so she could see again. She found what she was looking for and picked up the journal that Kate had dropped and the page that Kate had ripped out of it. She hugged it close to her chest and more tears fell down her face. "I'm not going to apologize to her!"

"What?" Ms. Jade asked, eyeing the book with a frown.

"I'm not going to apologize to her!" Lucy said again. "She - she insulted my mum and dad and she ripped my daddy's book! I'm not - not going to apologize to her!"

Ms. Jade looked at her for a second before looking over at Kate. "Is this true, Miss Erik?"

"I didn't -"

"She's lying!" Lucy exclaimed.

"You two, go wait for your parents outside," Ms. Jade said sternly to Kate's two friends as she stood back up properly. They scramble from the room quickly. Jade then turned back to Lucy and Kate. "You two follow me."

The two girls followed their teacher up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. When they got there Jade got Kate a napkin for her nose and told her sit and wait for her mother while Lucy talked to the Headmaster. The Headmaster asked her some questions which Lucy responded to right away. She told him everything that happened.

"Be that as it may, Miss Collins, we have a zero tolerance rule at this school. I don't care what Miss Erik may have said or done, we do not condone physical violence," the Headmaster said. Lucy didn't say anything. She was sat in a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk and stared at her shoes, still hugging Jay's books close to her chest. The Headmaster sighed and continued, "Miss Collins, I understand that you may be going through a very tough time right now so I'll tell you what. If you apologize to Miss Erik I will not expel you. I'm sure Ms. Jade would not be too happy about losing one of her best students."

"No," Lucy said, shaking her head violently, still not looking up from her shoes.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't want to apologize."

The Headmaster looked her up and down for a moment before he spoke again. "Alright," he said finally, "why don't you wait outside for your brother. You can think it over and then tell me what you decide when he comes to get you."

Lucy nodded and stood up. She walked out of the office and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the office from Kate. She looked over at her with a glare and Kate looked away quickly. Lucy was so done with all of Kate's constant tormenting. She didn't care what happened to her anymore. She was not going to apologize to her. She wasn't going to let her get away with what she did. She had ruined the last thing that Lucy had left of her father and Lucy wanted her to suffer for it. She knew that her family would not be very happy about what she did but she didn't really care anymore. She hoped Nina came soon. She really needed her.

Kate's mother came a few minutes later. She took one look at her daughter and became furious. She stormed into the Headmaster's office and demanded to know what happened. Nina came a little later looking very worried. She saw Lucy and raced over to her. She fell down to her knees in front of her chair.

"Lucy, what's happened?" she asked, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Lucy nodded at first and then looked up at Nina and shook her head. Tears started to roll down her cheeks again as she told Nina what had happened. She showed Nina Jay's book and the ripped paper.

"She - she ruined it," Lucy cried. "I was supposed - supposed to keep it safe and - and she just ruined it!"

Nina looked back and glared at Kate. She took the ripped paper and flattened it out as much as she could. She stuck it in the book and promised that they'd try to fix it when they got home. She gave Lucy a hug and a kiss on the forehead before getting up and angrily storming into the Headmaster's office.

"How dare she lay a hand on my baby!" Mrs. Erik's shout came through the door, making Lucy hug her book even tighter.

"Your  _baby_  is the one that started it!" Nina exclaimed. "What a terrible thing to do! She should never have touched that book!"

"If she wanted to keep that thing safe she should have left it at home!"

"She obviously never expected someone to grab it from her and rip out pages!" Nina yelled. "Her father just passed away, how could someone be so insensitive!"

"Miss Chaudhry, I understand that but -" The Headmaster was trying his best to control the two women.

"But nothing! It should never have escalated to this point! That girl has been bullying Lucy for the past three years and you and your staff did nothing about it!" Nina exclaimed.

"And what proof do you have of this?" Mrs. Erik retorted.

"Proof! Just asked both those girls, they'll tell you!" Nina replied.

"Miss Chaudhry, we have a zero tolerance policy for -"

"I understand that. Zero tolerance for bullying right? Your zero tolerance policy seems to only work against us! How come for the past few years whenever Kate did anything to Lucy you suddenly forget about your zero tolerance policy? If you kick her out you have to kick out the other girl too or I will personally make sure that everyone in Rochester knows what kind of institution this is! How many students do you think you'll lose when people hear about this kind of discrimination?" Nina yelled.

There was silence for a moment. The shouting stopped. It seemed that the adults were finished yelling at each other and were talking normally with one another. Murmurs could be heard from the door but Lucy couldn't not discern specific words. Finally the door opened and Kate's mother came out. She angrily walked over to her daughter and ordered her to get up. They walked out of the office. On her way passed, the woman gave Lucy a glare. Lucy didn't do or say anything. Her expression stayed neutral. A little while after the Eriks left, Nina walked out of the office too. She walked over to Lucy and stuck her hand out for Lucy to take. Lucy got up and took Nina's hand. Without a word Nina led them back down to the dance studio to pick up Lucy's things and then out to the car. Lucy refused to let go of her father's journal. Nina helped her into the back and buckled her in before getting into the driver's seat.

They drove in silence for a while before finally Lucy spoke. "Nina," she whispered. "Are you mad at me?"

Nina looked back at her through the rearview mirror and shook her head. "No, love," she said quietly. "Lucy, you know that hitting people isn't good, right? I know what she did and said was horrible but what you did was also wrong."

"I know," Lucy whispered.

"And you know that what she said isn't true right?"

"Yeah..." Lucy said, looking out the window she could avoid looking up at Nina.

"It's not," Nina said. "Min loves you. She doesn't think that you're ugly and she didn't leave because of you. She came back because of you."

Lucy nodded.

"Don't worry about them anymore," Nina said. "We can find a new dance studio for you to go to. I'm sure we can find a way better one."

"No," Lucy said. "I don't want to dance anymore."

"Lucy..." Nina stopped at a redlight and looked back at Lucy. She said, "but I thought you really liked ballet."

"I just don't want to do it anymore."

Nina looked at her for a second before turning back as the lights went green. "Alright," she said with a sigh. "We can talk about it later. Now is probably not a good time to talk about it."

They drove the rest of the way in silence. When they made it home Lucy raced up the stairs to her bedroom. She finally put the journal down on the bed and pulled her bag off her shoulder. She pulled her ballet slippers out of the bag and looked at them for a second. Tears started falling down her cheeks again. She threw the ballet shoes away from her as forcefully as she could, knocking things over on her desk.

Lucy let the bag drop from her hands and picked the journal back up before crawling up into bed. She buried her face in the pillow and cried. She laid there for a while before there was a knock at the door. She didn't move, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. They didn't. The door opened and Daniel walked in.

"Hey, Nina told me what happened," he said as he walked over to the bed. She doesn't respond and he sat down on the bed beside her. He heard her sob and sighed. Placing a hand on her back, he said, "hey, it's okay. It's okay."

Lucy looked up finally, eyes red and puffy. Tear stains ran down her cheeks and her nose was very red. She moved close to Daniel and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. Lucy hugged him with one hand, still clutching the book with the other.

"Daniel," she whispered. "I want Daddy."

Daniel sighed again and gave her a little squeeze. "I know, kid, I know," he said softly. "Nina told me what that girl did. I'm sorry."

"I shouldn't have brought it with me. I should have just put it in my room when Mum gave it back to me," she said with a sniff. "I shouldn't have been lazy and stuck it in my bag."

"It's not your fault, kid," he said. "She should never have touched it. It's not your fault that... that she was a total bitch."

Lucy looked up at him with wide eyes before giggling a little bit. "I don't think you're allowed to say that."

Daniel laughed. "Why not?" he asked. "She was being one, wasn't she?"

Lucy thought about it before nodding a little.

"Yeah, so don't let her get to you," Daniel said. "Nina told me that you said that you don't want to do ballet anymore."

Lucy nodded again.

"Lucy, you don't have to give up something you love because you think that you're not allowed to be happy anymore,"

"I just don't want to anymore," Lucy whispered. "I don't want to dance anymore."

"Hey you know, before you were born, when I was around your age, my mom died and after her death I stopped reading comic books because they were something that made me happy," he said with a sigh. "I thought that I wasn't allowed to be happy anymore because my mother was gone and how could I justify feeling happy when she wasn't around anymore but eventually I realized that in really low times like this you have to do the things that make you happy again. Eventually I started reading comic books again and let myself be happy again. If dance makes you happy, you should keep doing it. You're allowed to be happy, Lucy. No matter what happens you have to find ways to be happy."

Lucy wiped the tears from her cheeks with one hand and buried her head in Daniel's chest. "It doesn't make me happy anymore," she whispered.

"Okay, you know what? How 'bout we give it a year?" he said. "You can stop ballet and then next year if you want to go back then we'll find a new dance studio for you to go to. How's that sound?"

"Okay," Lucy mumbled though she doubted she'd change her mind. Daniel sighed and held her, rocking her gently.

Eventually they heard the front door open downstairs. Daniel looked down at his watch and said, "that's probably Min. Do you want to talk to her?"

Lucy nodded.

"Do you want me to tell her to come up?"

Lucy nodded again.

"Okay, kid," he said, putting her down onto the bed. "I'll let her know that you want to see her."

Lucy watched him walk out of her bedroom and sighed before laying back down and burying her face in the pillow again.

...

"She did what?!" Minerva exclaimed, not comprehending what Nina was telling her right now. She couldn't imagine Lucy ever doing anything like that.

"She got into a fight," Nina said sadly. "With a girl named Kate. Complete bitch actually. She's been bullying Lucy since... forever I guess. She said and did some terrible things."

Minerva flopped down on a chair at the kitchen table and sighed. "Fighting is not okay, no matter what she may of done."

"I know and Lucy knows too," Nina said. "And I think that if it had been any other time she wouldn't have done it. Lucy's been having a hard time, you know. And she was getting better too, this has just made it worse again."

"She was getting better, that's why I don't understand why she would do that."

"She said something about Uncle Jay and tried to wreck his journal," Nina said. "She also said that you couldn't get out of here fast enough after you saw her ugly face."

Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose. "I hope she doesn't believe that."

"I told her it wasn't true," she replied. "She got kicked out of the school though. So did the other girl though so that's good at least." Nina paused for a second and then smiled. "I think she broke the bitch's nose. It must have been quite the punch."

Minerva gave Nina a look. "I hope you didn't encourage her behaviour."

"Of course not," Nina said with a laugh. "But she's not here right now so I can tell you what I really think and that is that what she did, though probably a little morally ambiguous, was pretty awesome."

"I don't think  _ambiguous_  is the right word," she replied. Nina laughed. Minerva shook her head though she smiled. "Where is she now?"

"Upstairs. Daniel is talking to her. She hasn't left her room since we got back," Nina said, smile fading away. "She really did love ballet. It was the only thing that seemed to make her forget about everything else. I don't know what she's going to do now."

Just then Daniel walked into the kitchen. Nina and Minerva turned and looked at him expectantly. "She's okay," he said. "She was crying before but she's okay now. She said she still doesn't want to do ballet anymore though. Said it doesn't make her happy anymore."

Nina sighed. "She's just saying that so you'll stop telling her to keep doing it."

"I know," Daniel replied. "I told her that she could take this year off and if she wanted to she could go back next year."

"That's a good idea," Minerva said with a nod.

"She wants to talk to you," he said, looking at Minerva.

Minerva nodded and got up. "I'll go now," she said as she walked out of the room. When she was out of the kitchen she smiled a little. She was so happy that Lucy wanted to talk to her about what happened. Minerva walked up the stairs and over to Lucy's bedroom. She knocked on the door and heard a little voice on the other side letting her in. She opened the door and saw Lucy laying in bed with her head face down in the pillow.

"Hello, Lucy," Minerva said.

"Are you going to tell me to keep doing ballet too?" she asked.

"No, Daniel told me that you don't want to do it anymore," Minerva said, walking into the room and closing the door behind her. She walked to the bed and sat down. "That's okay."

Lucy doesn't say anything. Minerva sighed and ran her fingers through Lucy's hair. Lucy turned and looked up at her mother for a second before tears filled her eyes. She sat up a bit and hugged Minerva. Minerva wrapped her arms around her daughter and rubbed small circles on her back. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here, sweetheart, it's going to be okay."

"Why do they hate me? What did I do?" Lucy asked through her tears. "I try to be nice to them but they're still so mean to me!"

"I don't know. Lucy," Minerva whispered. "Some people are just like that. Maybe there's something going on at home or maybe they're just very angry people. Either way what they're doing is wrong and you shouldn't believe the horrible things they say."

"I just want people to like me. Am I that horrible that people can't like me?"

"No, no, you're not!" Minerva said. She wished that she could do something or say something better to make Lucy understand. She hated seeing her like this. "I know it's hard, darling, but you know someday you'll move on to bigger and better things and they're going to regret ever being mean to you."

There was silence for a while. Lucy moved and showed her mother the journal. "She - she grabbed it from my hands and ripped it," she whispered. "I asked you to keep it safe but then I didn't do that!"

Minerva sighed and took the book from her. She opened it up and looked at the ripped and scrunched up paper. She used her hand to flatten it out as much as she could. "It's okay," she said. "I can -"

"I - I just wanted something to do while I waited for Nina," Lucy said, hiding her face in her hands. "It was in my bag so I was reading it while I waited."

"It's not your fault, Lucy," Minerva said, putting a hand on Lucy's back. "I can -"

"I should have just left it in my box!"

"Lucy, it's okay," Minerva said. "I can fix it. It's okay."

Lucy looked up suddenly. She looked at her mother with wide eyes. "You - you can?"

"Yes," Minerva said with a small smile, pulling out her wand. "Watch." She pointed the wand at the book and said, " _Reparo_."

Slowly the paper began to knit itself together. The paper was still wrinkled but it was no longer ripped. Lucy looked at it with wide eyes for a second before hugging Minerva tightly. "Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Thank you for fixing it!"

Minerva smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "You are very welcome," she said. "The page is not all flat yet but hopefully if we close it and put some weight on top it will fix that."

She closed the book and Lucy looked up. She took the book from Minerva and slid off the bed. She walked over to her bookshelf and pulled out her box of important things. She placed the book inside before walking back to the bed and leaning against Minerva's legs.

"I know you were excited to see me dance," Lucy whispered. "I'm sorry."

"That's alright, my darling," Minerva said with a smile, cupping Lucy's cheeks with her hands and wiping the tears away with her thumbs. "I do hope that you'll change your mind soon though and go back to it."

Lucy didn't say anything. She leaned forwards and rested her forehead on Minerva's chest. Minerva sighed and put a hand on the back of her head.

"Alright," she whispered. "Your Uncle Raj will be here soon and Daniel's making dinner. Why don't you get washed up and come down?"

Lucy nodded a little. She stayed there for a minute before finally pulling away from Minerva and walking towards the bedroom door. Minerva watched her for a second before looking around the room. She noticed papers and a vase laying on the ground in front of Lucy's desk. Lucy's pointe shoes were laying on the ground beside them. She must have thrown them when she got home. Minerva stood up and cleaned everything up before picking up the shoes and walking back towards Lucy's bookshelf. She pulled out Lucy's box of important things, opened it up, and set the shoes inside.

Minerva walked out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs. She walked back into the kitchen where Daniel was cooking dinner and Nina was sitting at the table with her textbook open in front of her.

Nina looked up when she entered. "How is she?"

"I think she'll be okay," Minerva said, walking over and sitting down at the table as well. "She should be down soon."

"That's good," Daniel said. He noticed that Nina still didn't look all that convinced and gave her half a smile. "She'll be okay, babe. She just needs to forget about it for a while."

Nina sighed. "Yeah, she will," she mumbled. She looked at her book for a second before looking up again. "I'm going to be away for a few weeks in February and March."

"Where are you going?" Minerva asked.

"Clinicals start then so I need to stay on campus," Nina said.

"What are clinicals?"

"It's when nursing students work at a hospital and just get experience in that environment," Nina explained. "So I'll be working basically nine-to-five hours and it'll just be easier for me to stay in my flat on campus during that time. I'll be back on the weekend but I'll be staying there on the weekdays."

"Oh, that sounds interesting," Minerva said.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to do some practical work," she said. She motioned to her textbook. "Theory can get boring."

Minerva smiled. "Are you paid for this work?"

"Yep," Nina replied. "I mean, it's not much but it's something."

Minerva laughed a little. Nina looked over at Daniel. "Are you coming to stay with me for couple nights?"

Minerva looked over at him as well. Daniel looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I've got three exams back to back next month so I was thinking," he looked at Minerva, "if you were okay watching Lucy for a couple days, I could stay on campus. That way I'd be able to study late in the library and not have to worry about picking her up or dropping her off."

"Of course," Minerva said. "You focus on your school, Daniel. I can worry about Lucy."

He smiled. "Thanks," he said. "Uncle Raj will be here too, of course."

"Wonderful," Minerva said.

"You and Uncle Raj are still having problems?" Nina asked.

"I don't think either of us are each other's favourite person right now," she mumbled. She sighed. "It's a shame really. We got along very well before all of this happened. Jay, Raj, Amelia, and I used to go out together at least once a month when Lucy and Daniel were younger. It was nice to just drink, talk, and forget about everything for a little while."

"Forgetting about your kids, how fun," Daniel said.

Minerva laughed. "We didn't forget about you," she said. "We tried but we never could."

"I'm glad I make a lasting impression," Daniel said with a smile.

"That sounds really nice," Nina said. "I hope eventually you guys will go back to that."

"Back to Uncle Raj pretending to hit on you and then insult you just to annoy Dad," Daniel said with a laugh.

Minerva shook her head. "I can't believe he did that in front of you," she said. "And besides, it wasn't to annoy your father. It was to annoy Amelia."

"Right, of course," Daniel said.

"Why would that be?" Nina asked.

"Uncle Raj likes Amelia, even though he'll never say it," Daniel said with a smile.

"And Amelia likes him, even though she'll never say it," Minerva said.

Nina smiled. "I knew there was something weird between them!" she said. "They're pretty weird together. I thought it was just because of the whole not seeing each other in so long thing but it's so much better!"

Minerva laughed and shook her head. She was about to say something when Lucy walked into the kitchen too. She walked over to the table and looked at the book in front of Nina. "I was reading your textbook yesterday," she said as she sat down on a chair on her knees, "and I found a mistake on page one hundred and two."

"Really?" Nina asked with a smile turning to the page in question. Lucy nodded. She leaned over so she could see too and pointed to the mistake. Nina laughed. "They spelt antiseptic wrong."

Daniel laughed. "They make you pay so much for the book you'd think they could at least spell things right."

Minerva smiled.

Nina sighed and closed her book. "This is the third edition too," she said. "They had three chances to get it right."

Lucy smiled. She reached over and pushed the book in front of her so she could look at it properly. "My science teacher says that it's stupid how they make you buy the newest edition of the textbook," she said. "He says that they change one little thing and then sell it as a new version. "

"It's true," Daniel said. "It is really stupid. And they're so expensive too. Like at least we can afford them, what about for the people who can't?"

"Yeah," Nina mumbled. "It is stupid but I have to buy them -" Very dramatically she leaned back into Lucy and put her hand to her forehead. "Or I'll fail!"

Lucy laughed as she pushed Nina off of her. Minerva smiled. "I'm not sure that was dramatic enough."

Nina smirked. "Oh you don't think I have a future in acting?"

"Probably not," Daniel told his girlfriend with a laugh.

"Ah, that was dream! You're crushing my dream!"

Just then the front door opened and Lucy got up quickly. She raced towards it to find her uncle standing there taking off his coat. Raj smiled at Lucy. "Hey, Princess," he said. "How did your try-outs go?"

Lucy stopped smiling and she sighed. She walked over to him and hugged his legs. "Not good."

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't that bad," he said, reaching down and picked her up.

Lucy shook her head. She told him what happened and he frowned. "She did what?"

"Tried to rip Daddy's book."

"And they kicked you out?" Raj asked.

Lucy nodded. "And her too."

"Well, at least they kicked her out too. She pushed you and ripped your book. She deserved to be kicked out too," he said. "I don't think you should hit people anymore though. Doesn't look great, you know. When someone is mean to you make sure you get your revenge in a way where you can't get caught."

Lucy laughed.

"Don't tell your mother I said that," he said with a smile.

"Okay," Lucy said with a laugh.

He put her down and took off his shoes before following her into the kitchen. He said hello to everyone and set his briefcase down on the island counter. Daniel finished dinner and they all sat down to eat. Daniel pulled a stool over so Lucy could have a seat as well. During dinner, Lucy told Raj that she was no longer doing ballet and he agreed that waiting a year to decide was probably a good idea. He asked the rest of them about their days and Daniel asked about his. After dinner, Lucy sat down at the table with Nina and Minerva to do some homework. Raj was in the office going over some Collins Enterprises things with Daniel. Minerva took this opportunity to get some marking done as well.

"What are you learning about in school, sweetheart?" Minerva asked.

"In science we're learning about the solar system," Lucy said. "Did you know that the Apollo astronauts' footprints on the moon will probably stay there for at least 100 million years?"

"I did not," Minerva said with a smile.

"So do you think we'll colonize Mars, Lucy?" Nina asked.

"Yes!" she said excitedly. "It's the closest Earth-like planet and if we can figure out how to terraform the planet then we could live there!"

"I don't know if I want to live on Mars," Nina said.

"I don't want to live there either," Lucy replied, "but I'd like to visit."

"No. I don't want to visit either," Nina said with a laugh. "I think I want to stay on Earth."

"What if it was like that movie where everyone has to get on the spaceships and leave Earth or you'll die?" Lucy asked.

"Nope, I'm going to die on Earth," Nina replied.

"I have to agree with Nina on that one," Minerva said with a laugh. "I would also prefer to stay on Earth."

"You guys are crazy," Lucy said. "You would rather die on Earth than live in space?"

They nodded.

"I'll bet Daniel and Uncle Raj would want to come to space with me. We could probably find some friendly aliens," she said. "Don't you want to explore space with us, Nina?"

Nina shook her head. "Sorry, Lucy," she said, "but space is not for me. I'm more of an Earth girl, I must say."

"But I want you to come!"

"Augh, fine," Nina said with a smile. "If you want me to come then I'll come."

Lucy looked over at her mother. "You're going to come too, right?"

"Sure, I'll come," Minerva said with a smile.

"Great!"

"Though I don't think we will have to do that anytime soon," Minerva mumbled.

Lucy shrugged. "Who knows?" she said. "We went to the moon in 1969 so we have the technology."

"The space race has kind of slowed down now though," Nina said with a smile.

Lucy shrugged again. "I'm just glad that you guys would come if we have to leave Earth," she said. "I don't want to leave you."

Nina and Minerva laughed. They talked more about space for a while before turning back to their own works so they could get things done too.


	8. Stairs Sledding and Albus Dumbledore

**_Wednesday, February 4th 1998_ **

"Sock slides are fun, Lucy, but they get boring," Daniel told his sister. "Can't we do something else instead?"

"Like what?" Lucy asked.

Daniel shrugged. He stood up from the couch he was sitting on and looked around the room. "I don't know. There isn't really anything to do is there?"

"When's Nina coming back?" Lucy asked grumpily, crossing her arms. "She's more fun than you. She would do sock slides with me."

Daniel gave her a look and flicked her forehead. Lucy laughed and pushed his hand away. "Nina," he said, "isn't coming home till Friday. So we, my dear sister, will have to find a way to entertain ourselves until then without her."

"And how, my dear brother, will we do that?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"I have not thought that far ahead yet."

"Hmm," Lucy mumbled thoughtfully, standing up from the couch too. She thought for a moment before getting very excited and jumping up and down. "We could go to the park!"

"I don't want to go outside in the cold," Daniel replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Also, it's so far away from here."

"Okay..." Lucy said with a sigh. She really wanted to go to the park but she tried to think of another idea for something they could do instead. "How about we play a board game?"

"No, I'm too bored for board games."

Lucy frowned. It seemed like Daniel didn't want to do anything she wanted to do. "Well, I've come up with suggestions and you've said no to all of them," she said, "so you come up with something then."

"Okay, I will come up with a non-stupid idea. Just give me a minute." Daniel thought for a moment before smiling. "Sledding?"

Lucy laughed. "How can we go sledding without snow?"

"Inside of course."

Lucy looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not really sure what he had in mind. He motioned for her to follow him out of the room and she did.

...

"Oh yeah, this isn't stupid at all," Lucy mumbled, sitting on a sled at the top of the stairs. She looked down the staircase and made a scared face. They looked a lot longer and farther down than she remembered them.

"It'll be fine," Daniel said with a smile, putting a helmet on top of Lucy's head. "It'll be fun."

"Why don't you go first instead," she said.

"Because you offered."

"I change my mind," she replied.

"Don't be a wimp. We've gone down the stairs in sleeping bags and mattresses before," he said. "Why would this be different?"

"I don't know, Daniel," Lucy mumbled.

"Do you want a push?"

"No!" she said, looking back at him. He just smiled. She sighed and turned back to the stairs. "I guess it worked when Kevin did it in Home Alone."

"It did," Daniel said with a laugh. "I remember. Should I go down and open the front door?"

"Our front door is a lot further away from the stairs than Kevin's was," Lucy said. "I don't think I'll make it there."

"No, probably not," Daniel said.

"Should I buckle my helmet?" she asked.

"Eh, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Alright," she mumbled, taking the rope handle of the sled in her hands and taking a deep breath. "Here goes nothing."

She pushed forward and the sled started going down the stairs. It worked for the first two steps but then on the third the sled didn't quite make it and snagged the front. It toppled over and Lucy was flung forward. The helmet, which, looking back she probably should have buckled, flew off her head leaving her with no protection as she rolled down the stair.

"Lucy!" Daniel yelled and ran down after her. Lucy fell down the last step after hitting her head on almost every step and landed with a thud on her back. Her eyes were closed and the sled on top of her.

Minerva heard a loud crash and Daniel yell from the kitchen and looked up from her essays quickly. "Daniel? Lucy?" she called loudly. "Is everything alright?"

There was no answer so Minerva stood up and walked towards the entrance hall. She walked in and saw Lucy on the ground unconscious and her eyes widened. "What the hell happened?" she screamed, falling to her knees at Lucy's side. She pushed the sled off of her and moved her over into her arms. "Lucy, sweetheart, are you okay?"

"Erm," Lucy groaned as she opened her eyes. She blinked a couple times and squinted up at Minerva. "What - what happened?"

"We were... ah... trying something," Daniel mumbled softly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand unconsciously.

Minerva looked at the sled and the helmet on the ground and her expression became furious. "TRYING SOMETHING!"

Lucy winced and groaned again at the sudden loud noise. She reached up and rubbed her forehead. "I don't feel good," she mumbled as she pushed herself up. She sat up properly and swayed a little. "I feel dizzy."

"I think she might have a concussion," Daniel said as Minerva put a hand on her back and steadied her. Minerva glared at him. He walked over and picked Lucy up. "Alright, kid, let's get you to the couch."

"I'm tired," she mumbled.

"I know," he said, as he walked towards the living room. He looked back at Minerva. "We should probably take her to the hospital."

Minerva stood up and shook her head. "No. I will get Poppy," she said. "If it's just a concussion she can have Lucy fixed up faster than a Muggle hospital can."

"A witch doctor then?" Daniel asked with a smile.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "I'm still mad at you," she said as she headed in the opposite direction towards the front door. "Keep an eye on her until I come back."

"Okay," Daniel said with a small smile. When Minerva was gone, he carried Lucy into the living room and laid her down on the couch. "I'm sorry, kid, that was a stupid idea."

"What was?" she asked confused.

"You don't remember what happened?"

Lucy thought for a moment and then smiled. "Oh yeah, stairs sledding."

"Yeah, stairs sledding," Daniel said with a smile. "I guess alliteration does not equal good idea."

"No, not really," she mumbled as her eyes got heavy. "I'm tired and gross. Can you turn off the lights? They're too bright."

"Sure," he said, standing up and walking over to the light switch. He turned the lights off and then pulls the curtains over the windows. "Anything else?"

"My head hurts."

"I know," Daniel said. "Don't worry, Min'll be back with a doctor soon."

"Okay," Lucy said.

"Of course the one day we do something stupid is the one day our live in nurse isn't here," Daniel said with a shake of his head as he sat back down by the couch in front of Lucy. He picked up a blanket and put it over her. "We should only do stupid things that could get us hurt when Nina's around."

"You should have gone first," she mumbled sleepily.

"You're probably right," he said with a smile.

"Where's Mum?"

His smile faded. "She went to get the doctor, remember?"

"Oh, right," Lucy said thoughtfully. "Where's Nina?"

"Okay, why don't you just lay back and relax," Daniel said.

...

Minerva ran into the Hospital Wing to find Madam Pomfrey sitting at her desk filling out some paperwork. Pomfrey looked up and gave her a smile though it disappeared when she saw the look on Minerva's face. "What's happened?"

"Poppy," Minerva said, "would you please accompany back to Rochester and look over Lucy? I think she may have gotten a concussion."

"Oh my," Pomfrey said standing up quickly. She grabbed her bag and walked around her desk. "Of course. Let's go!"

The two women ran from the Hospital Wing and out of the castle. They went down through the grounds until finally they came to the Hogwarts gate. Minerva grabbed Pomfrey's hand and they Apparated back to Rochester.

Minerva led Pomfrey up the driveway and through the front door of her house. They walked into the living room that was all dark and over to the couch where Lucy was laying. Daniel looked up and said, "Hi, I'm -" Before he could finish, Pomfrey pushed past him over to Lucy. He moved out of the way quickly and watched her move her wand over a sleeping Lucy. "Daniel Collins. If you need anything."

Minerva gave him a look. "Alright. Explain."

"Ah, well," he muttered. "We were bored and that led to avoidable, yet still unavoidable, stupidity."

"I never expected this from you, Daniel," Minerva muttered with a shake of her head. "Her, maybe, but you? Never."

"Never?" Daniel asked with a little smile. "Really?"

"Well, not now! I thought you had grown up by now," Minerva said crisply as she crossed her arms. "Evidently I was wrong. You're almost nineteen and you still behave like a child."

"I'm sorry," Daniel said. "It really was stupid and I should not have let it happen." He looked away and added quieter, "or came up with it in the first place."

Minerva glared at him and shook her head. She walked away, over to the couch where Lucy was laying. "How is she?"

"She'll be fine," Pomfrey said with a smile. Se zipped up her bag, turned around and stood up. "She might not remember what happened when she wakes up but she'll be fine. I've given her a potion that should alleviate the concussion. She just needs to sleep. She should wake up soon feeling as good as new."

"Thank you, Poppy."

"Of course," she said with a smile. She looks over at Daniel and stuck out her hand. "Sorry about earlier. I'm Poppy Pomfrey, the healer at Hogwarts."

"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand. "Thanks for everything."

"Not a problem. Though, I do ask you not try whatever it is you did again," she replied.

He smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, we won't."

"Well, I best be off," Pomfrey said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Minerva."

"Goodbye, Poppy," Minerva said as Pomfrey picked up her bag and headed for the door. Minerva then turned to look at the sleeping Lucy and sighed. She moved and sat down beside her head, pushing some of the hair out of the little girl's face. Lucy looked to be sleeping peacefully. "You are both such idiots."

"But you love us," Daniel said annoyingly, sitting down in an armchair.

Minerva rolled her eye but said, "but I love you."

* * *

**_Tuesday, February 10th 1998_ **

"Alright, kid," Daniel said as he pulled up in front of Lucy's school and looking back at her. "Nina and I will be back this weekend. Maybe don't go too crazy while we're gone. Min's probably a little out of practice dealing with your craziness."

"I'm not crazy," Lucy said, sticking out her tongue at him.

He laughed. "Whatever you say..."

Lucy shook her head but smiled. She opened the car door but looked back at Daniel before getting out. "Good luck on your midterms, Daniel," she said. "See you soon."

"Bye, Lucy," he said with a smile. "Oh, and you're taking the bus home remember."

She nodded and got out of the car, saying one last goodbye. She waved as Daniel drove away and then ran towards the school to find Anne.

The school day went by quite quickly and uneventfully. Lucy hadn't been bothered by Kate in a while since she had broken her nose. Kate was still scared of her so she left her alone. Lucy was more than happy to ignore her back. She also liked the way Kate ran away whenever she made a move to walk away or get up quickly. She had told Anne all about what she had done to Kate the day after and Anne thought it was hilarious. Kate's nose had healed now but she had to wear bandages around it for weeks after Lucy had broken it. Lucy had made new friends because of what she had done as well. She had started talking more with Kim Baker and Natalie Harold who had previously not talked to her very much because they had been worried about what Kate would have said to them if they did. Some of the boys had also started talking to her, congratulating her on her great punch and asking her where she had learned to fight. She had of course learned through wrestling with a much larger, older brother. They were quite impressed and Anne was very much liking having them around.

After school Lucy got on the bus with Anne. They sat together and talked during the bus ride. Anne told her all about this new book she had been reading. When Lucy's stop finally came she saw her mother walking through the gate towards the house through the window. She quickly said goodbye to Anne, thanked the bus driver and got off the bus. She ran towards her mother happily.

"Hey!"

Minerva turned around and smiled at her. "Hello, darling," she said. Hearing the happiness in Lucy's voice made her happy after a long day. "How was your day?"

"It was okay," she replied, coming through the gate and walking over to Minerva. Minerva smiled and tousled her hair a bit when she came up.

"So, Daniel's in Canterbury now?"

"Yep," she said, taking her hand as they walked. Minerva smiled and gave her hand a little squeeze. "He said that I shouldn't be too crazy because you might be out of practice with dealing my crazy."

Minerva laughed. "You are pretty crazy but I think I'll be okay."

"I'm not crazy!" she exclaimed though she smiled.

"So, it will just be the two of us tonight," Minerva said as they walked up the steps to the front door. "Raj has some work to do in London so he won't be coming over till tomorrow."

Lucy didn't respond. She stopped walking suddenly. Something caught her eye and she quickly turned her head towards a bush on the side of the house with a furrowed brow. Minerva looked over but saw nothing.

"What is it?"

Lucy shook her head and kept going the rest of the way to the front door. "Nothing. I thought I saw something but I guess it was nothing. Maybe I am crazy," she said with a smile. She pulled her mom towards the door. "Let's go inside. It's kind of cold."

Minerva decided not to push. She just smiled and followed her daughter into the house, giving one last glance over to the bush Lucy had been looking at but still seeing nothing. She and Lucy went back into the house.

...

It was late now. Lucy was in bed and Minerva was finishing up the dishes in the kitchen when she heard a knock at her window. She looked over and saw nothing. With a shake of her head she opened the kitchen window and leaned out. "You boys need to be more careful," she said. "Lucy very nearly saw you earlier."

Sirius Black and James Potter took the Invisibility Cloak off of themselves and smirked up at their teacher. "Sorry, Professor," Sirius said with a laugh. "We'll try to be sneakier. Your daughter is just very observant."

Minerva rolled her eyes. She looked at James and gave him a small smile. "How's Lily doing?"

"She's doing well," James replied. "She's having weird cravings though."

"Yeah, I was ordered to bring them anchovies in the middle of the night last night," Sirius said with a laugh.

Minerva smiled. "Well, she is eating for two."

"Apparently the baby likes anchovies," James said with a laugh.

"So far, I can't really get on board with his taste," Sirius said. He looked at his watch and then back at Minerva. "Dumbledore is showing up soon, right?"

"Yes, and then you two will be relieved of your task for a while," Minerva replied. She sighed. "Thank you again for doing this. It means a lot to me and I know you both probably have other things to worry about, I shouldn't be adding on top of that."

"Hey, no worries," Sirius said with a smile. "We're happy to help."

"Yeah, I mean your family is pretty awesome," James said. "I can't wait for them to actually meet us."

"Well, you've already met Daniel," she said with a smile. "And Lucy as well, if you remember."

"Yeah, but I don't think she remembers us now," Sirius said. "I'd like to meet Nina and Raj too. They seem nice. He plays with Lucy a lot."

"He's the fun uncle," James said with a laugh.

"The kind of uncle I'm going to be to mini-James," Sirius said with a smile.

Minerva smiled and James laughed, shaking his head. "Nah, man," he said. "Lily won't let me name him James Junior."

"I think it's mostly because you suggested it both as a girl's and boy's name," Minerva said.

"Nah, she doesn't want another James at all," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Hey! I'm great!" James said.

"Eh," Sirius replied with a little shrug. "Anyways, I can't wait to meet Lucy again. I'm just glad she doesn't really play with dolls anymore."

"What are you talking about, you loved playing dolls with the kid," James teased. "I think that was the most fun you had in our fourth year."

"I wouldn't say the most fun," Minerva said. "You four got up to quite a bit that year."

Just then a knock could be heard from the front door. Minerva turned to look in the direction of the door. "That must be Albus," she said, turning back around and reaching up to close the window again. "I'll see you two soon."

"Well, if we're doing a good job, you won't," Sirius said with a smirk. "See you, Professor."

"Bye, Professor," James said. He and Sirius pulled the Cloak back over themselves and disappeared.

Minerva smiled and shook her head. She closed the window and moved quickly to the front door to let Dumbledore in. She locked the door behind him and led him into the kitchen. It had been a while since he had been in this house. Lucy had been only about a year old before they had decided that their meetings in Rochester would only attract attention to the house as the war was beginning to start up.

"You've heard about Harold Mitchum, I assume," Dumbledore said as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"Yes," Minerva muttered sitting down across from him. "I can't say that I'm surprised. We've been at war for five years and still we haven't seen even the glimpse of an end."

Dumbledore sighed. "Well, he's being replaced as Minister by the Head of Department of International Magical Cooperation, Millicent Bagnold."

"Background check?"

"Came up clean," he replied, holding out a folder towards her.

Minerva nodded and took the folder from him. "Good," she said as she looked through it. She saw Bagnold's Hogwarts records, employment history, personal information, and reports from the Order member stationed to follow her. Nothing out of the ordinary here. She closed the folder and handed it back to him. She sighed and looked out the window. "Did you read Barty Crouch's edict?"

Dumbledore nodded, setting Bagnold's folder off to the side and picking up another. This one contained all Order member tasks and assignments for the next few weeks. He slid it towards her but she paid it no attention. "Yes," he said, voice sounding quite impartial. "I can't say that I am surprised."

"You can't really support this," Minerva said, looking back at him in shock. "Allowing the Aurors the use of Unforgivable Curses! That's ridiculous. How are we any better than them if we use those?"

"I cannot tell Barty Crouch to change how he runs the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," he replied. "In a recent poll, fifty seven percent of the population support this edict. They believe it will protect our Aurors."

Minerva stared at him. She wasn't asking him what the population thought about the edict. She had read the same paper he had, she had already seen the poll. She shook her head and said, "what do you think though?"

"I would never support the killing of another human being," he replied.

"The war is only going to get worse with this edict," said Minerva with a shake of her head, looking away again.

He didn't reply. They sat in silence for a little while before Minerva sighed and looked back over at him. "Emmeline told me that Italy and Spain are offering support now."

"Yes. They've sent Aurors our way."

"That's good."

He nodded. "The Queen is worried about the safety of the rest of the royal family after the death of Princess Diana last summer."

"They're not going to be staying at Hogwarts too are they?" Minerva asked.

"No," he said with a shake of his head. "I believe the palace is just as safe for them as Hogwarts but they want more Order protection for the children. They're worried that the royal guard will no longer be enough."

"The Order is already spread very thin," Minerva mumbled, finally picking up the folder he had placed in front of her and opening it up. She pulled out the list of members and their tasks and shook her head. "We don't have people to spare right now and the Aurors are much too busy as well. Moody won't want to lose more just to watch over the palace."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'll let them know that we can't expend more of our wandpower."

"Besides the guards have been investigated. They're on our side and they're trained well enough for their purposes. They are large in number. Maybe they should be helping us out more," Minerva muttered.

Dumbledore smiled. "Many of the royal guards are helping us out," he said. "There was a raid earlier today that ended with the arrest of five Death Eaters by multiple Royal Guards."

"That's good," Minerva said. "Why can't you come to me with good news more often?"

"Well, you could always give me good news," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "How are Lucy, Daniel and Nina doing?"

"I was not aware that this was going to be a social call."

"We can't drown in work every night, Minerva," Dumbledore said.

"They are alright," she replied. "Daniel and Nina are in Canterbury. Nina has work experience and Daniel has midterms so they decided to stay the rest of the week on campus. It was a big decision for him. He's worried about Lucy."

Dumbledore smiled. "Why was he worried?"

"Well, it's the first time he's left Lucy alone since Jay's death," Minerva said quietly. "She's been sleeping in their bed with them. She's been having nightmares."

"Is she sleeping now?"

"Yes," Minerva said sounding tired all of a sudden. "Finally."

Dumbledore smiled. "She's hard to wrangle."

"You have no idea," Minerva mumbled, leaning back in her chair. "Too energetic, I think."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," he reasoned.

"No, but she seems to get a burst of energy right before bedtime," she said with a shake of her head.

They talked about the war and strategy for a while longer. It was getting quite late now and the meeting was wrapping up when Dumbledore said, "Oh, I've began accepting applications for the Divinations position." He waved his wand and another folder appeared on the table in front of her. "We've already gotten a lot of applicants."

Minerva made a face as she looked through the applications. "Ridiculous subject, Divinations," she muttered. "Why even bother -"

"Hello," a small voice came from the doorway.

Minerva turned to see Lucy poking her little head through the door. She gave her a small smile. "Hello, sweetheart, couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head and slowly walked into the kitchen. She walked to her mother's side of the table, staring at Dumbledore. He smiled at her. "Who are you?"

"Lucy, that's not very nice," Minerva said.

Dumbledore smiled. "That's alright," he said. "I'm Albus Dumbledore. We've met before. You were very young then, probably have forgotten all about me."

"He is the Headmaster of Hogwarts," Minerva explained. "He's your Uncle Albus."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Uncle Albus," Lucy said, "again, I guess."

Dumbledore smiled. "The last time I saw you, you were so small," he said. "You've gotten so much older now."

Lucy smiled a little. She moved a little closer to her mother and Minerva picked her up onto her lap. "What happened, darling?" she asked. "Why aren't you in bed?"

Lucy turned and rested her head on her mother's chest with a sigh. "I had a bad dream," she whispered. "Can I stay with you?"

Minerva gave her a small smile. "Of course, love."

She looked up at Dumbledore and he gave a small nod. "I think I'll head out," he said. He looked at the folder. "I'll leave this here for you to look over. We can finish our conversation tomorrow when you get back to Hogwarts."

"Thank you, Albus," Minerva said. She looked down at Lucy. "Lucy, I'm going to walk Uncle Albus to the door. Can you wait here for me?"

Lucy nodded. She moved off her mother's lap so she could get up and then sat back down. She looked over at Dumbledore and waved. "Bye bye, Uncle Albus."

"Goodbye, Lucy," Dumbledore said cheerfully as he and Minerva stood up and left the room.

Lucy sat quietly at the table, kicking her feet back and forth as she waited for her mother to come back.

Minerva walked Dumbledore to the door and gave him a small smile. "Sorry about cutting our meeting short, Albus."

"That's alright," Dumbledore replied with a smile. "We can finish it tomorrow. I will see you at Hogwarts, won't I?"

"Of course," Minerva replied. "Stay safe."

"I will. You too, Minerva," he said opening the front door. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said. She watched him walk towards the gate for a second before closing the door and walking back towards the kitchen.

Lucy was standing by the kitchen sink using magic to get a glass out of the cupboard and get some water. Minerva smiled and watched the glass float down from the cupboard and into the sink under the faucet. Lucy made a small flicking motion and water came out of the tap filling the cup. When the cup was full, the water stopped and the cup floated out of the sink and into Lucy's outstretched hand.

"Good job," Minerva said, making Lucy jump slightly and almost drop the glass. Minerva smiled. "Are you using the spells from the books I gave you?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. She drank her water and then reached up to place the glass back on the counter. Minerva walked over to her and pushed the cup further away from the edge. "Alright, little one, you have school tomorrow so let's get you to bed."

Lucy took her mother's hand and they walked up the stairs. Minerva walked to her bedroom door and opened the door. She walked through but suddenly Lucy stopped in the doorway. Minerva looked down at her daughter. She didn't look at her mother. She just stared at the bed. "What's wrong?"

"Um... nothing, I - no, nothing," she whispered. She shook her head and walked into the room and over to the bed.

Minerva gave her a look. "Um, alright," she said. She reached over and picked Lucy up. She put her down on the bed and pulled the blanket up over her. "I'm going to change. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy whispered.

Minerva grabbed her clothes and moved to the bathroom to change, brush her teeth and wash her face. When she came back into the bedroom she heard Lucy breathing quick short breaths. Minerva walked to the bed and got in beside her.

"Are you alright, my love?" she asked with concern. Lucy shook her head and moved closer to Minerva. Minerva wrapped her arms around her and hugged her close. "Shh... it's alright. We're okay."

There was silence for a while before Lucy said anything. Her voice was a little muffled as her face was buried in Minerva's chest. "It's been a really long time since I've come into this room," she whispered.

Minerva realized why Lucy had stopped in the doorway now. She gave Lucy a little squeeze. "I'm sorry, darling. We could move to your bedroom if you want."

"No, it's okay," she whispered.

There was another pause before she spoke again.

"Mommy?"

Minerva looked down at her daughter shocked. Lucy hadn't called her 'mum' or 'mommy' since she had come back home. She smiled and felt warmth fill her. She was so happy that Lucy was finally starting to forgive her and treat her like a mother again. "Yes, love?"

Lucy sniffed a little. "I miss Daddy so much."

"I know, sweetheart," Minerva said with a sigh, feeling sadness set in again. "I miss him too."

"Why did he have to go?" she whispered. Minerva could see the tears falling down her face. She moved a hand over to wipe them. "He was supposed to get better. He said he was - he was going to get better! But then he didn't... Why didn't he get better?"

"I - I don't know," Minerva whispered.

"I wanted him to stay. I needed him to stay."

"I know, love, I know. And you know that he would never have left by choice," Minerva said sadly, feeling tears in her own eyes now. "He wanted to stay here with you too. He loved you so much. He would never leave you."

"It's not fair."

"It isn't and I'm so sorry," Minerva whispered.

"When will it stop hurting?" Lucy asked. "I don't want to feel anything anymore."

"I know, darling," she replied soothingly. "I don't know how long it's going to hurt for but I know that he would want us to be strong and keep our heads up, right?"

"Yeah..." Lucy whispered.

"We'll be okay, darling," Minerva whispered, kissing her forehead. "We'll be okay."


	9. A Prophecy

**_Monday, March 2nd 1998_ **

"Ronald Weasley," Fabian Prewett said with a smile as he handed the little bundle to Minerva. "Came in late last night to meet us all."

Minerva smiled and took the sleeping baby from him. He had bright red hair like the rest of his family. She rocked him gently and moved the blue blanket around to cover him more properly. "He's a very handsome young man," she said.

"Much like his uncle," Gideon said with a bright smile.

"Yes, I am quite handsome aren't I?" Fabian said. Gideon gave him a look but he just smiled and stuck out his tongue very childishly at his twin brother.

Molly rolled her eyes. She was laying in bed in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts. Arthur was standing beside it with a hand on her shoulder and Gideon was sitting by her feet. Fabian brought a chair over for Minerva to sit down, baby still in her arms before bringing over another for himself.

"So, how are you feeling?" Minerva asked Molly.

"I'm okay," she said with a smile. "I'm just glad he is happy and healthy."

"Six boys," Gideon said. "What do you have against girls, Mols?"

Molly smiled. "I would love to have a daughter but my little Ronny is perfect."

"Maybe I should bring the other children into meet their new brother. They're probably awake by now," Arthur said, though he made no move to leave his wife's side. Molly smiled, reached up and put a hand on his on her shoulder. She gave his hand a little squeeze.

"Where are the little scamps?" Fabian asked.

"Andromeda and Ted are watching them," Arthur replied.

"I can go get them for you," Gideon said. "You should stay here with your son."

"Thank you, Gideon," Arthur said with a smile.

"Not a problem," he said, standing up. "Coming Fabian?"

"Yes," Fabian replied, getting up too. The twins walk out of the Hospital Wing towards the classroom the other Weasley children were in.

"I should get going too," Minerva said, standing up. She walked over to the bed and gently held Ron out to his mother. "Let you all have your family moment."

"Thank you for coming by, Minerva," Arthur said.

"Of course," she said with a smile. "Congratulations once again, Molly, Arthur. I should really get going to class now."

"Thank you, Minerva," Molly said with a smile. "Have a nice day."

Minerva smiled and said her goodbyes. She made her way through the Hogwarts halls to her classroom. It was a lot more packed than it used to be. Young children were running around, adults were chatting in hushed whispers, students were sitting on benches talking quietly or doing homework.

The day past by quite slowly and really tired Minerva out. She thought about going up to her private quarters for a nap during her free period but was called in for a meeting with Dumbledore instead. The meeting did nothing to improve her day as she stared down at more names of Order members who were missing. By the end of her long day, Minerva felt emotionally and physically drained. All she wanted to do was curl up in her cat form and sleep. She left the castle, walked across the grounds and Apparated back to Rochester. Not feeling up to climbing up the stairs, she transformed into her cat form and curled up in an armchair in the living room. It didn't take long for her to drift off in the quiet Rochester living room.

"Thank you for the ride, Mrs. Linwood. See you tomorrow, Anne," Lucy called before climbing out of the car.

"Of course, sweetheart," Mrs. Linwood said with a smile. "Goodbye."

"Bye, Lucy!" Anne called.

They drove away and Lucy walked towards the gate. She punched in the code to open the gate and walked up the driveway. She hummed quietly to herself as she walked. A cool breeze washed over her causing her to shiver, even in the sunlight that beat down on her. It was the weird buffer season where it wasn't winter anymore but it was not yet spring either.

Lucy pulled out her key and unlocked the front door with a little mittened hand. Going inside she took of her boots, coat, mittens and scarf before taking her backpack with her to the living room. She threw the bag on the couch and ran off to the kitchen to find a snack. She grabbed an orange, came back to the living room and sat down on the couch to eat her orange. Grabbing the remote, she turned on the television and flicked through the channels until she finally found something she could watch.

Suddenly Lucy saw something moving from the corner of her eye. She turned her head and saw a tabby cat sleeping on the armchair a few feet away from her.

"Oh!" she said, getting up and walking over to the chair. "Mum's home."

She reached out a hand and slowly petted the cat. She thought for a second before getting up, grabbing the remote and turning the television volume down as not to disturb her mother. She then picked up a throw blanket and gently put it over the curled up cat. When she was sure the cat was okay she sat down on the floor and pulled out her books to do her homework.

Minerva woke up to find that she was under a blanket. She looked around and saw Lucy sitting on the floor doodling on a sheet of math homework. Lucy saw the movement from the corner of her eye and smiled at the cat.

"Hello!" she said excited, scrambling over to the armchair. "You got home early today. You beat me home."

Lucy picked up the tabby cat and Minerva meowed in protest. Minerva struggled but Lucy held her tightly. "It's okay. I know you like being petted even if you say you don't," she said with a smile. Lucy sat back down in front of her math homework and pet Minerva gently. "I was doing my math homework but I finished it so I drew you sleeping on the couch."

Minerva looked over and saw Lucy's drawing. It was quite good to be honest. She had drawn the armchair and a tabby cat on top of it. Little 'Z's came off the cat to indicate that the cat was sleeping. The drawing went over some of her math problems a little which made Minerva frown a bit.

"I didn't really have a very good day today," Lucy said, leaning back against the couch behind her, "but it's okay. I'm home now so I can do more fun stuff. I finished most of my homework at school while the teacher was talking. They don't really like it when I do that but if they're talking about something boring I have to do something."

Minerva turned her head up at her and gave her a look. Lucy laughed. "You don't like that?" she asked. "Well, you can't say anything because you're a cat right now."

Minerva finally got out of Lucy's grasped and jumped out of her lap. She started walking away when Lucy sighed.

"Oh, okay..." Lucy said sadly. Minerva turned back around and looked at her six year old. She sighed and walked back to Lucy, putting her head on her leg. Lucy smiled and pet the cat on her head. Minerva hopped back up and curled up in Lucy's lap. "Yay!"

Minerva smiled and meowed a little. Lucy smiled. She continued to pet her with one hand and doodling with the other. Minerva sat there for a while feeling pretty relaxed. Lucy did her other homework and watched television. When she finished, Lucy closed her books, picked up the cat and moved to the couch. She sighed as she pulled the cat close to her and petted her gently.

She yawned. "Anne and I had nothing to do at all during break today," she said quietly, "so we just laid in the grass and talked. It was fun, though. Until we had to move because... because stuff."

Minerva looked up at her and meowed questioningly.

"It's nothing," Lucy mumbled, looking away. "Oh, I got my essay on government back and I got a hundred percent!"

Minerva meowed approvingly.

"I'll show you later," Lucy said. She yawned again and laid back on the couch. She put Minerva down and she curled up next to her. "I'm tired. Are you tired?"

Minerva nodded a little, rubbing her head on Lucy cheek. Lucy giggled a little. "I like when you're a cat," she said quietly. "I wish we had a real cat. That stayed a cat all the time. Can we get one? Please?"

Minerva shook her head.

"Ahhh!"

Minerva shook her head again. They didn't need another cat and Minerva knew if they got one, it would be her taking care of it. Lucy definitely wasn't going to help very much.

Lucy yawned again and rubbed her eyes. She talked to Minerva for a little while longer before falling asleep. Minerva fell back asleep a little while later, curled up beside her.

"Lucy? Are you home?"

Lucy opened her eyes quickly and looked around. She rubbed her eyes and shook Minerva a little to wake her. "Ah, yeah," she said. "In the living room."

Minerva was about to transform back into herself but before she could, Raj walked into the room. He smiled at Lucy before noticing the cat and frowning.

"Where did you get a cat?" he asked.

"Ah..." Lucy looked down at Minerva with worry. She still felt a little groggy. She rubbed her eyes and tried to push through it so she could come up with a convincing lie. "I found her outside. It's cold so I let her in."

"Lucy, you know your mother said no pets," Raj said, shaking his head and walking over to the couch. He pet the cat and lifted its head slightly to check for a collar. "Looks like she's not wearing a collar. She might still be someone else's pet though and I'm sure that person is worried sick about her."

"I don't think so," Lucy said with a smile.

"You can't keep her," he said with a small smile, kneeling down in front of Lucy and putting his briefcase down beside him. "I'm sorry but you can't get a pet right now especially without talking with Minerva, Daniel and Nina first."

"Sorry," Lucy said. She yawned and rubbed her eyes again.

"Were you asleep?" Raj asked.

"I fell asleep on the couch," Lucy said. "Today was a long day."

Raj smiled. "It was a long day," he said, tousling her hair. He looked around and frowned suddenly. "Where is Minerva? She's here isn't she? She was supposed to get here early so that someone would be home to watch you."

"Ah, yeah," Lucy said, not wanting her mother to get in trouble. "She's here. I think she's upstairs in her room." Lucy got up and picked up the cat. "I'll put the cat outside since you don't want her here."

"Maybe she'll find her way back to her own home," Raj said, getting up and picking up his briefcase. "I'm going to go get changed. I hope the cat's gone before your mother notices it's here. She won't be very happy."

Lucy nodded. She waited for him to leave the room before racing towards the front door. She opened it, waited a couple seconds and then closed it again. She then ran up the stairs, looked around quickly to make sure Raj was in his room, and then ran into Minerva's bedroom. She set the cat down and Minerva transformed back into herself. Lucy looked at her for a second before bursting into laughter.

"That was so close!" she said between fits of laughter.

Minerva smiled and shook her head. "I'm not sure how much I like how good you are at lying," she said. "And at covering your lie."

Lucy smiled and walked over to bed. She jumped up onto the bed on her back and looked up at the ceiling. "Well, I saved you from being thrown outside," she said. "Didn't I?"

"You did," Minerva said, walking over and sitting down on the bed beside her. She smiled and pushed some of Lucy's hair out of her face. "That was very close."

"Mum?"

"Yes, love?"

"Why can't we just tell Uncle Raj about magic?" Lucy asked. "Nina knows. Why can't Uncle Raj know too?"

Minerva sighed. "I wish we could. Life would be easier if we could but we're not supposed to tell anyone who doesn't justifiably need to know," she said. "That's what it says in the International Statute of Secrecy."

"Who justifiably needs to know?" Lucy asked.

"Significant others, like husbands and wives, family, like stepsons," she said. "I suppose Nina could be counted as a significant other. Even though she's Daniel's not one of ours."

"But Uncle Raj is our family," Lucy said, sitting up a bit. "I count him as my family."

Minerva smiled. "I know, love," she said. "But it's not the same."

Lucy frowned. It was the same to her. She didn't say anything else. She got up and sighed. Minerva put a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be okay," she said. "Now, come along. It's time for dinner."

* * *

 

**_Thursday, March 12th 1998_ **

Lucy entered Rochester Mansion with a sigh. She threw her off backpack and it landed on the ground with a loud thud. The sound made Minerva walk into the entrance hall with a frown. She looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Wow," she said, "what's making your backpack so heavy?"

"Textbooks," Lucy mumbled, sitting down on the floor right in front of the door so she could pull off her shoes.

Nina walked into the house, awkwardly moved around Lucy, and closed the door behind her as well. She smiled at Minerva. "Hey, Min. How was your day?"

"It was alright," she replied with a smile. "How was yours, sweetheart?"

"It was good," she replied setting her keys down on the table.

"How about you, Lucy?"

"Eh," Lucy mumbled, getting back up, throwing her shoes on the shoe rack, and taking off her coat as well. After the coat was away in the closet, she leaned down to pick up her backpack with a grunt. "I have a big project due next week and so I had to bring my heavy textbooks home to do it."

Minerva smiled. "Well, are you going to get started right away then?"

"Ah, yeah... sure," Lucy said, in a voice that made Minerva sure that she was definitely not going to do her work until probably a day before it was due. "Right after I change my clothes, eat a Popsicle, maybe watch some TV."

Nina laughed and Minerva gave her a look. Lucy just smiled and headed for the stairs so she could go change out of her uniform. Minerva shook her head as she walked towards the kitchen with Nina.

"You really shouldn't encourage her procrastination," she said as she sat down at the table where she had been sitting before the two of girls arrived.

Nina laughed. "I'm not encouraging it," she said. "Lucy will get it done, don't worry."

Lucy came down to the kitchen a little later in her regular clothes. Nina opened the freezer, handed Lucy a Popsicle and took one for herself. She offered one to Minerva but she turned it down. Lucy sat down at the table next to Minerva to eat her Popsicle.

"So what is this big project you're doing?" Minerva asked her.

"It's for science. We have to research and make a presentation about something to do with the brain and perception," Lucy said. "I'm going to do it on synaesthesia."

"What's synaesthesia?" Minerva asked.

"It's so cool! It's when one sense is stimulated by another," Lucy said. "There are a bunch of different kinds. The most common one is Grapheme-Colour Synaesthesia. It's when a person sees certain letters or numbers with a certain colour."

"Like they might associate the letter 'J' with the colour red and so every time they see that letter written, they see it as red," Nina said. "It is really cool."

"That's interesting," Minerva said.

"Yeah, so I'm doing my project on that. Anne is doing her project on sight. She's researching -"

Lucy was interrupted by tapping on the kitchen window. She looked over to it and saw a small barn owl sitting on the window sill tapping the glass with its beak.

Nina looked over to it as well. "An owl?"

Minerva stood up but before she could say anything Lucy ran towards the window excitedly. She opened it up and the owl hopped in.

"Hello!" she said as the owl looked up at her. "It has a letter!"

"Yes, that's how wizards and witches send their mail. Through the owl post," Minerva explained, walking over to the window.

"That's so cool," Lucy said. She slowly unties the letter from the owl's leg. "Thank you, Mr. Owl."

The owl made a hooting noise before quickly flying out of the still open window. Lucy laughed and then looked down at the letter. It had her mother's name written on the back. Lucy held it out to Minerva. "It's for you."

"Thank you," Minerva said as she took the letter from Lucy.

"Who's it from?" Nina asked.

"Albus Dumbledore." Minerva recognised the writing right away. She ripped it open and read the small note inside.

_Urgent. Come at once._

_A.D._

Minerva felt her stomach turn. She quickly stuffed the note into her pocket and pulled out her wand. "Something's happened, I must go back to Hogwarts."

"What happened?" Lucy asked. She and Nina were both looking at Minerva with concern.

"I don't know," Minerva said, walking quickly from the room. Lucy quickly jumped down from the window sill and looked over at Nina who shrugged. They followed Minera over to the front door.

"Will you be back tonight?" Nina asked, sounding a little worried.

"I'm honestly not sure," Minerva replied as she put on her shoes. She looked up at Nina and Lucy. She knew she was probably scaring them but she didn't have any answers to give them. "I'm sure everything is fine," she told them reassuringly. "You two stay here, I'll send word if I won't be coming home later tonight."

"Alright," Nina said. "Stay safe."

"I will," Minerva said with a smile. She looked down at her daughter and kneeled in front of her. "Behave for Raj, Nina and your brother. I'll be back as soon as I can, alright sweetheart."

"B-but," Lucy whispered, coming closer to her mother. Minerva pulled her into a hug. "I don't understand..."

"I know, darling," Minerva said. "I'll explain better when I come back, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Goodbye, Lucy," Minerva said, standing back up.

"Bye," Lucy mumbled, still confused as to what was going on.

Minerva gave her one last smile before ducking out the door, walking down the driveway and Apparating to the outskirts of Hogwarts. She quickly transformed into a cat and ran across the grounds. Once she made it to the castle she ran up towards the Headmaster's office. She turned back into Human form and burst through the door without knocking. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, elbows on the desk, fingertips touching, looking very deep in thought. He did not smile when she entered. Instead he motioned for her to sit. Minerva closed the door behind her and sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

"I was conducting interviews for the Divinations position earlier today," he began before Minerva could ask any questions. "One of the applicants had Seer's blood. Her great-great-grandmother was a seer. Her interview was not going very well however and I had very nearly given up on it when suddenly she changed and foretold a real prophecy."

"A real prophecy?" Minerva asked. "What did she say?"

"Yes a real prophecy. About the war," said Dumbledore. "She said, ' _Two shall work together to vanquish the Dark Lord. One, a witch, born half muggle, half magical... born through turmoil not long ago... with powers unlike any other... power not confined to a wand but surged through her whole body... and who would choose the winning side of the war. The other, a wizard, approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equals, but they have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..._ '"

"Wow..." Minerva whispered. She unjumbled the mountain of words in her head and thought about them intensely. "Who could they be?"

"At the moment I am not sure," Dumbledore admits. "For the witch, I have some ideas but nothing fully formed yet. For the wizard, however... there are two possibilities, I would say."

"Who?"

"The Potter's son or the Longbottom's son. They both have a late July due date," he said, "and both have defied You-Know-Who on three separate occasions."

Minerva sighed and leaned back in her chair. She crossed her arms and looked away. "If the wizard that is meant to defeat You-Know-Who is an infant, does that mean that the war may go on for many, many years?"

"I am afraid it may," Dumbledore replied sadly.

Minerva closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What about this witch?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"

"Well, considering the prophecy did not mention when this girl was born, I have to assume she has already been born," he replied.

Minerva nodded. "Which doesn't give us much to go on."

"Precisely," he said. "We will just have to wait to see."

* * *

**_Friday, March 27th 1998_ **

"This is going to sound weird. Like I'm not complaining," Nina said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cup of coffee, "but did Lucy sleep in one of your beds last night?"

Minerva looked up from her paper. She was sitting at the kitchen table drinking her own coffee. "No she did not."

"She didn't come to my room either," Raj said. He was sitting beside her at the table as well actually eating breakfast with them today. He had managed to get up at a reasonable time so that he could.

"Wow, really?" Nina said excitedly. "Because she didn't come to our room last night either which means she slept on her own! That's great!"

"I guess her nightmares have finally stopped," Raj said with a smile.

"That's wonderful!" Nina said. She sat down at the table next to Minerva and quickly added, "don't say anything. I don't want to embarrass her."

"We won't," Minerva replied with a smile. Just then Lucy and Daniel came into the kitchen for breakfast. Lucy wasn't wearing her uniform today. Minerva gave her a look. "Why aren't you dressed? Don't you have class in an hour?"

"Nope!" She said happily, taking a seat at the table while Daniel brought over a bowl for himself and her, cereal and milk. He set a bowl in front of her before sitting down and pouring cereal into his own bowl.

"Teacher's convection, so Lucy gets an extra day off," Daniel explained.

"Yeah, the teachers have to go to school but we don't!" Lucy said with a huge smile.

"Well, that hardly seems fair," Minerva said with a laugh.

Lucy shrugged. "They decided to be teachers."

"So, what do you plan to do on your extra day?" Raj asked with a smile.

"I'm going over to Anne's house," Lucy said happily as she took the cereal box from Daniel and began to fix up a bowl of cereal for herself.

"Mrs. Linwood offered to take her for the day so that we could go to our own classes and you guys could go to work without having to worry about Lucy," Nina said.

"That was nice of her," Minerva said.

"Yes, we should make sure to thank her properly when we get the chance," Raj said. He stood up. "I should head out. Have a nice day, all of you."

They all said goodbye to Raj and he headed for the door. The rest of them ate their breakfast for a while.

"Oh and what time are you going to be home tonight?" Daniel asked suddenly. "Nina and I were thinking of going to the movies tonight but someone has to be here to watch Lucy."

"I'll be home by five, if that's okay," Minerva said. "I have a meeting after classes end."

"Yeah, that's fine," Daniel said. "Movies not till seven but we were planning on getting dinner first."

"What movie are you going to see?" Lucy asked.

"The Big Lebowski," Nina replied. "It's supposed to be good."

"Alright, well, I'll be back by five," Minerva said. She folded up her paper and stood up. "I should head out too. Have fun at Anne's, Lucy. Tell her mother I said hello."

"I will," Lucy said. "Bye, Mum."

"Have a nice day, Min," Daniel said.

"See you tonight," Nina said.

Minerva smiled and said one last goodbye before leaving the house. She walked down the driveway down and out of the gate. She was about to get out her wand and Apparated to Hogsmeade when a voice came out of nowhere, making her jump. "So, are we supposed to follow Lucy to this Anne's house?"

"Black!" Minerva muttered. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry, Professor," Sirius said with a laugh as he pulled the Invisibility Cloak off himself and James. "So, are we supposed to follow Lucy or should we follow Daniel and Nina? I would love to see what a muggle university is like."

"You two stay with the house, leave the kids alone."

"Hey, they won't know we're there," James said with a smile. "Besides, we're not that much older than them."

"Yeah, we're only like a year older than Daniel and Nina," Sirius said.

Minerva rolled her eyes, she pulled out her wand and said, "stay with the house. Don't do anything stupid."

With that she disappears. Sirius smirked. "Stupid, us?"

James laughed. "Stupid is a good word for describing you, not so much me."

Sirius smacked James's arm and got back under the Cloak. The two men walked through the gate and up to the house. "James, this mission is turning out to be a lot more boring than I thought it was going to be."

"You thought we would be protecting the house from swarms of Death Eaters every single day?" James asked with a smile.

"No... I don't know what I expected but sitting around all day was not what I thought," he mumbled.

James laughed. "You're an idiot. I thought you, being the lazy ass you are, you would like sitting around all day."

Sirius gave him a look. "Shut up," he said with a shake of his head. He sighed and looked up at the house. "Can we go into the house again, Prongs?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," James said. "We almost got caught last time."

"Yeah but this time everyone is leaving," Sirius replied with a smile. "So we can look around a lot more."

"I don't know, Padfoot..."

"Hey, come on. I wanna learn more about these kids and we're not allowed to talk to them so this is like the best option!"

"Best may not be the right word."

"But we'll do it?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"Fine," James mumbled, giving in. He was also quite curious about Minerva's children and would like to take a look around their rooms.

Lucy, Nina, and Daniel left a little while later. Lucy came out of the house and waited for Daniel to come out too. Daniel held the door open for Nina and then went to close and lock the door. Before he could however, Sirius used his wand to knock the keys out of his hands while the door was still open. He and James shuffled inside while Daniel fumbled for his keys.

Lucy laughed at him. "Smooth."

He gave her a playful glare and Nina laughed. He picked up the keys locked the door with James and Sirius inside. They waited a couple minutes but eventually heard the gate close behind Daniel's car and removed the Cloak. They got to work right away, looking through closets and shelves on the main floor. They found nothing too interesting so decided to move upstairs.

A lot of the rooms were guest bedrooms. Only four were being used by the family. They were the master bedroom where Minerva slept that James and Sirius had already looked through, Lucy's bedroom, Raj's bedroom and Daniel and Nina's bedroom. They decided to go into Raj's bedroom first.

This room had papers and files piled high on the desk and on the floor near it. Other than that it had a few suits hanging in the closet, shoes arranged nicely on the floor of it and a couple personal items in the bedside table drawer. The bed was made properly and everything but the desk was clean.

"Except for the desk, it looks like every other guest bedroom in this house," Sirius said.

"I guess he's just staying with them for a while because of what happened to their dad, you know," James said. "He has his own place in London. I heard them talking about it."

"Do you think it's weird?" Sirius asked as he walked towards the desk and picked up a file. "Just like being a guest in a house that he stays in like eighty percent of the time."

"I don't know," James said. "He doesn't seem to mind. He looks like he has a lot of fun playing in the back garden with Lucy or video games with Daniel. He doesn't seem weird."

"How long do you think this arrangement is going to last?" Sirius asked. "I mean, it's been months since it happened and the kids seem okay now."

"Who knows," James said.

"Collins Enterprises," Sirius said, reading the header of the first document in the folder. "That was the dad's company right?"

"Yep."

"Looks like he does a lot of work for it," Sirius said, motioning to the mess if folders. He sets the file down where he had picked it up and looked back at James. "This room doesn't have much. Let's move on."

James nodded and they left the room. They went into Daniel and Nina's room next.

"You know, I would have thought that McGonagall would be like super conservative and make them sleep in separate rooms," Sirius said with a smile as they walked into Daniel's room.

James laughed and shook his head. "I'm pretty sure McGonagall moved in here before she got married to Mr. Collins."

" _Mr._ Collins. So formal, James. Why not just call him Jay?" Sirius asked with a laugh.

James shrugged. "I don't know. It's just feels weird," he said. "I mean, we never met him. I don't feel right just calling him by his first name."

Sirius nodded. The two boys looked around Daniel and Nina's room. It was not as clean as Minerva or Raj's rooms had been. There were clothes piled on the back of the chair in front of the desk, papers scattered over the desk, books piled on the floor. The bed was made but it was done quickly and messily. They had a lot of comic books on their shelf and a few photographs on the wall. One of the shelves had trophies and awards crammed into it.

"Wow, this kid's done a lot," James said, moving some of the trophies around so he could read them. "Basketball, piano, football, tennis."

"Very accomplished," Sirius said with a smile.

"How does he even have time to do all this stuff? Look! He even has a trophies for playing pool! What is his life?"

"A lot of after school activities, I guess," Sirius replied.

They looked in the closet and found that all of Daniel's clothes had been pushed into one corner of the closet. Nina's clothes took up the rest of the space.

"Wow," Sirius said with a laugh.

"Looks like my closet at home," James muttered.

Sirius laughed. "You two are so whipped. I'm glad that I don't have to worry about that stuff."

"So, you're not going to get back with Marlene this time?" James asked sitting down on the bed as Sirius started looking through the desk drawers.

Sirius shrugged.

"You two are so annoying," James muttered, laying back on the bed. "You're together and then you're not and then you're together again and, oh nope, nevermind. You broke up in the middle of me saying that you were together again."

Sirius threw a pen at James, making him laugh. "What's the deal, man? Do you like her or not?"

Sirius shrugged again.

James threw the pen back at him. "That's not a good answer."

"I don't know, Prongs," Sirius mumbled with a sigh, putting the pen back in the desk drawer and turning to face him. "We can't all be as happy as you and Lily, I guess."

James sat up and gave him a look.

Sirius sighed and flopped down in the desk chair. "I do like her. I like her a lot but I'm not good at that stuff, you know. I don't know how to be a good...  _boyfriend_. God, I hate that word. I'm not good at the romantic stuff. We get together because we're drunk or lonely or sad and then we break up because of something stupid we fought about."

"Maybe it'll be easier when the war's over," James replied with a sigh. "It'll be easier when you both don't have the pressure of the war on you all the time."

"Maybe," he mumbled. He stood up. "So what did we learn about these kids from our snooping?"

"He has rolled up Captain America, Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles posters in his closet," James said with a smile. "He has a lot of the comics too on his bookshelf. He's good at a lot of things, evident by the trophies."

"He's a nerd then," Sirius said with a laugh.

James shrugged. "She has some really fancy clothes in the closet. Probably Indian, they don't look like British muggle clothes."

He nodded. "They're very colourful."

"I wonder if she goes to a lot of parties," James said. "I would love to attend a party. It's been so long."

"Yeah," Sirius replied. "Maybe we can get an invitation from Nina when we actually meet her."

James smiled and got off the bed. "Should we go to the next room?"

Sirius nodded and followed James out of the room and into Lucy's. There were a lot of books, toys and trinkets all around the room. Sirius walked over to the dresser and picked up a small mahogany box. He turned it over and read the engraving on the bottom.

_For my little ballerina_

_Daddy_

Sirius turned it back over and opened it. The inside of the box was sectioned off and on the edge of the middle section a small ballerina wearing a pink tutu and in a pirouette position spun slowly. Music emanated through the room. James looked over at Sirius.

"What's that?"

"A music box," Sirius said, closing it up and putting it back exactly where he had picked it up. "Her dad gave it to her. She hasn't put anything in it though."

"Ah, poor kid," James said.

"Yeah," Sirius said. He turned around to look at James. "Did you find anything?"

"Eh, not really. I mean, I don't know what you keep expecting to find," he said with a laugh.

"I don't know, something to tell us about the person the room belongs to," Sirius said.

"Well, looking at this room I would say the person who lives in it is very tidy," James said. "She keeps her room very clean. Maybe a little anal retentive."

"Well, she is McGonagall's daughter," Sirius replied with a laugh.

"I would also say that she loves books and comic books," he said, pointing to the bookcase. "And globes."

Sirius looked at the collection of globes on the top shelf of the bookcase and smiled. He pointed at the giant map on the wall above her desk. "Maybe she wants to travel."

"I want to travel," James said.

"Yeah, see the world," Sirius replied with a smile.

"Go on adventures!"

Sirius laughed. "She also likes Wonder Woman and Batman," he said, pointing to the posters on the back of the door. "I think this is her little nerd corner."

James smiled. "All of the comic books are Wonder Woman comics."

"She also has a lot of trophies," he said, pointing to a shelf where she had crammed all her awards like Daniel had. She had dance trophies, writing trophies and piano and football trophies too. "I guess both of these kids do a lot of extracurricular."

"Well, this is a small, sleepy town. Not much else to do."

"It's definitely no London," Sirius said with a smile as he walked up to her bookshelf and picked up a box. He pulled it out and opened the cover.

"What's in there?" James asked.

"Ballet shoes, another box, photographs, a journal," Sirius said, looking through the box. He walked over to the bed and sat down. "Now this is something interesting."

"Don't read her journal," James said, walking over and looking into the box.

"Look," he said, picking up a photograph of Lucy in her ballet tutu with Minerva and Jay kneeling down on either side of her. They were all smiling wide and Minerva had her arms around Lucy. "Look how young McGonagall looks."

James laughed and picked up another photograph. "Look at this one, it's really old," he said, flipping the picture over so Sirius could take a look. It was a black and white photograph of a man shaking hands with Captain America. A few other soldiers and the rest of the Howling Commandos were standing around the two. "It must be from the war before Captain America died."

"Wow," Sirius said, taking the photograph from him. "That's so cool. Where do you think she found this?"

"Who knows," James said, picking up the small pink box and looking inside. There were a bundle of letters tied together with a ribbon. He looked at the names on the letters. "Oh man, that guy must be Jamal Collins. He must be her grandfather or something. He was probably a soldier in World War II. These are letters between him and Marie Collins who must be his wife."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Sirius said. "Their grandfather met Captain America!"

"It's cool that they have pictures and letters," James said as he gently put the letters back. "This box must be filled with all the stuff she wants to keep safe."

"She has the journal we saw in McGonagall's room," Sirius said, picking up the black journal and opening it up to make sure it was the same one.

"Minerva must have given it to her."

Sirius sighed and put everything back in the box properly. "Poor kid," he mumbled, putting the lid back on the box and getting up to put it back where he'd found it. "She's only six."

"I know," James said sadly. He shook his head and watched Sirius walk over to the bookshelf. Sirius put the box down. "We should go."

Sirius nodded and they walked out of the room. He and James walk down the stairs and exited the house. This was the last time they would do anything like that again.

Minerva came home at five like she had said she would. She was the first one home. She found Sirius and James and decided to send them home. After she bade them a farewell, she walked back inside and flopped down on the couch in the living room with a sigh. Minerva picked up the remote and clicked the power button. Lucy had showed her how to use it. Apparently they had gotten a newer, higher tech, television while she was gone. Minerva flicked through the channels, found a lot of shows that Lucy liked to watch, until finally finding the news. She listened to the news for a while before shaking her head and turning it off.

She heard the door open and Daniel's voice. "Hey, we're home."

"You three are late," Minerva said as Nina, Lucy and Daniel walked into the living room and said their hellos.

"Yeah, sorry. It's my fault," Nina said. "I needed to talk to one of my professors after class."

"That's alright," Minerva said. She looked over at Lucy who had sat down on the couch beside her. "Did you have fun at Anne's?"

"Yes!" Lucy said with a smile. "We got to hang out all day. We went to the park and watched The Aristocats and played some games. It was fun."

"That's nice," Minerva said with a smile.

Daniel and Nina left for dinner and a movie a little while later and Raj arrived back home a few minutes after they left with dinner. They decided to stay in the living room as they ate. They sat on the couches eating out of the take out boxes and talking. Minerva was happy to be home and away from the worry and stress of the war. She was so glad that she had a place to come back to and forget about the war for a while. Today had been very tiring and it was days like today that she really needed this. She listened to Lucy talk about what she was learning in school, Raj talk about work and just relaxed. Minerva wanted this to never end. Of course tomorrow morning she would go back to Hogwarts and be confronted with the disarray of the war but for now she could sit with her children and thank God she had come home.

Minerva and Raj's relationship was slowly improving. He seemed to be getting back to his normal goofy self around her. Minerva hoped that he was finally realizing that she was here to stay. After dinner Lucy ran upstairs to change into her pajamas leaving her and Raj alone in the living room. They got up and started cleaning up the take out boxes.

"I was thinking," Minerva said, "if you wanted to of course, next Friday Lucy will be gone on a sleepover with Anne and Daniel and Nina will be out all night so I was thinking that we could invite Amelia over for drinks."

Raj looked at her for a second before nodding. "That sounds nice," he said. "It's not going to be the same though."

"I know," she said with a sigh, "but I thought it might still be fun. Get our minds off everything, you know."

Raj nodded again and followed her towards the kitchen. "Minerva," he said. "I feel I owe you an apology."

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "Don't worry about it. I know that you were just trying to protect Lucy and Daniel."

"Still," Raj said. "I didn't have to be a complete asshole about it."

Minerva smiled a little and looked over at him. "You're not a complete asshole," she said as she opened the cupboard under the sink and threw the takeout boxes away. "Just a sometimes asshole."

"Well, as long as I wasn't a complete asshole then," Raj said with a laugh. "The custody thing was stupid. I shouldn't have done that. I was just worried and I didn't want Lucy to be taken away from us. It was stupid."

"It was," Minerva said with a little laugh. "It's okay. I forgive you. Do you forgive me?"

"You have nothing to apologize to me for," he said. "Everyone you needed to apologize to has forgiven you."

"I have a lot to apologize to you for, Raj," she said. "You were here taking care of my family while I wasn't here and I apologize for that."

He nodded. "You don't have to," he said after a moment. "All I really need from you is a real answer. I know you weren't away for two years without any contact at all because of your work as a teacher."

Minerva sighed. She took this as him still not forgiving her. She debated telling him everything. About magic and the war but before she could make her decision the doorbell rang.

Minerva looked over at the clock and frowned. It was quite late for visitors. "Who could that be?"

"Someone who has the gate code," Raj said as he walked towards the door.

They heard thundering footsteps running to the front door. "I'll get it, I'll get it," Lucy called as she raced towards the entrance.

Minerva sighed. She really needed to talk to Lucy about opening the door at night without her or Raj there with her. She and Raj walked into the entrance hall as Lucy opened the door.

"Hello, Aunty Amelia!" Lucy said happily.

"Hello, Lucy," Amelia replied. "I'm sorry for dropping by uninvited so late but I really need to speak to your mother."

Lucy opened the door further and let Amelia in. Raj and Minerva walked over to greet her. Amelia's nose and eyes looked a little red and she looked a little flushed.

"Hello, Amelia," Raj said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said as she took off her shoes and coat. "Minerva, I have some things I really need to discuss with you."

Minerva nodded. "We can talk in the office," she said. "Lucy, it's almost time for bed. Why don't you head upstairs to your bedroom?"

Lucy looked at Minerva and Amelia with a frown and was about to object when Raj spoke first. "Come on, Princess," he said. "Let's leave your mother and Aunt Amelia to get their work done. We can go do something fun up in your room until you have to go to bed."

He held out his hand for her. Lucy looked at her mother for a second before sighing and taking his hand. She said goodnight and walked up the stairs with Raj. Minerva mouthed a thank you to Raj as he walked by. He just gave a little nod.

Minerva turned back to Amelia and motioned for her to follow. She led the way to the office and opened the door. To Minerva's surprise Amelia sat down in front of the desk instead of behind it. She walked around and sat down at the desk.

"Alright," she said. "What brings you here, Amelia?"

"I'm afraid that I don't come with good news, Minerva," Amelia said with a sigh. "It seems I never bring you good news."

"What's happened?" Minerva asked with a frown.

Amelia sighed and looked away. "Fabian and Gideon... they - they were on a mission for the Order and they ran into a group of Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov..."

"Oh no... Amelia," Minerva whispered.

"It was fifteen on two," Amelia spit angrily.

"Fifteen on two?" Minerva asked furrowing her brow. Amelia nodded. Minerva stood up quickly. "Fifteen on two! Of all the cowardly, spineless -"

"Minerva..." Amelia whispered, tears falling down her cheeks.

Minerva took a deep breath and tears filled her own eyes. She looked back at Amelia and shook her head. "They were so young, Amelia..."

"I know," she whispered. "I know."

"They were... they had... everyone's dying."

"I know."

Minerva flopped back down on the chair and wiped her face. "Fifteen on two."

There was silence for a long time. Neither of them spoke. They sat there thinking of the two young men who laid their lives down for this war. Thinking of all the men and women who had done the same. Everyone who was gone. Everyone who had been killed.

Just then there was a knock on the office door. Minerva quickly wiped the new tears off her face and took a deep breath before inviting whoever it was in. Amelia wiped her face too.

Raj opened the door and looked inside. Daniel was standing behind him. He and Nina must have just gotten back from their movie.

"Everything alright?" Raj asked.

Amelia turned and looked at him with a small smile. "Yes," she said. "We're fine, thank you."

"Well, Lucy's in bed but she refuses to go to bed until Amelia comes up and talks to her," he said. "Also, Daniel and Nina are back."

"Hey, Amelia," Daniel said, giving her a little wave.

"Hello, Daniel," she said. She stood up. "Well, if Lucy's waiting just for me I better go talk to her."

She got up and Raj and Daniel moved so she could walk passed them. Raj looked at Minerva with a frown.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Minerva said, giving him a very unconvincing smile. She played with some random papers on the desk. "I just need a few minutes to finish this."

"Alright," he said with a nod. "I'll leave you be."

Raj looked at Daniel who told him he needed a minute. Raj nodded and walked away while Daniel walked into the office and closed the door behind him.

"Was this about the war?" he asked softly.

Minerva sighed and nodded, feeling a fresh wave of tears welling up. He sighed and walked over to sit down in front of her.

"What happened?"

She gave him a look.

"I want to know," he said. "It's my world too now. I have a sister and a... you, in it. So I want to be informed."

She gave him a small smile. "A me?"

"I'm sorry... I still don't know what to call you," he said with a little laugh. "But we can discuss that later. Tell me about this now. Tell me everything."

Minerva took a deep breath and launched into everything that had happened so far, starting long, long ago. She told him about the rise in Anti-Muggleborn ideas, the rise of the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters. She told him about giants and werewolves sacking muggle villages. She told him about everyone who had died. Amelia's parents and grandparents, Hogwarts professors, muggles, Ministry workers, Aurors, friends. She told him about the Order of the Phoenix and the support that they were getting from the international wizarding community. She ended her story on Fabian and Gideon Prewett. She told him about their sister Molly and the rest of the Weasleys. She cried a lot and he moved so he could put a hand on her shoulder. She pulled him into a hug and he tried his best to comfort her.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I - I wish I knew what to say."

She pulled away and wiped her face. "It's okay, Daniel. I just... you've already done more than enough. I think coming home and being with you all and just forgetting about the war for a little while is the only thing keeping me sane right now."

"I'm glad you came back," he said. "I don't think you should try to go through all this alone."

She smiled and put a hand on his cheek. "You are such a wonderful young man. So much like your father."

He smiled. "I try."

She laughed through her tears and shook her head. "So much like your father."

Amelia went up the stairs and ran into Nina in the hallway in front of her bedroom door. Nina saw her and smiled.

"Oh, hello, Amelia," she said. "Uncle Raj told me you were here."

"Hello, Nina," Amelia said. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you for asking," she said with a smile. "Lucy's still up waiting for you. Said she couldn't go to sleep without talking to you first."

Amelia smiled. "I'll go talk to her," she said. "I'm sorry for keeping her up so long past her bedtime."

"That's alright," Nina said with a laugh. "Oh, will you be staying the night tonight? I can fix up a room for you."

"No, no, don't trouble yourself," Amelia said.

"It's no trouble."

"That's alright, Nina. I should get home tonight. I'll have to go into work early tomorrow," Amelia said with a smile. "Have a good night."

"Goodnight," Nina said.

Amelia walked towards Lucy's door while Nina went into her own bedroom. Amelia knocked on the door and heard a little voice say, "come in."

Amelia opened the door and smiled at Lucy. She was laying on her bed reading a comic book waiting for her aunt.

"Hi! I thought you might not come," Lucy said, sitting up and putting her book down.

Amelia smiled. "Of course I came," she said, closing the door behind her and walking to sit down on the bed in front of Lucy. "You asked me to come so I came."

"What were you talking with Mum about?"

"Oh just some boring stuff. You wouldn't be interested," Amelia said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Uncle Raj said that you and Mum had work to do but you don't work at Hogwarts," Lucy said. She thought for a minute. "I didn't think you did."

"No," Amelia said with a smile. "I'm a judge on the Council of Magical Law but I would like to eventually become part of the Wizengamot, the highest court of law in our world, and maybe eventually become Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"Wow," Lucy said. "I like law. I think I might become a lawyer when I grow up."

"Really? That's wonderful," Amelia said. She put a hand on her heart. "Following in your aunt's footsteps."

Lucy laughed. "Um, so, if you don't work with Mum at Hogwarts and you guys were just talking about boring stuff," she said, "why did you come so late at night?"

Amelia raised an eyebrow at her. "Hmm, I think you may be a little too smart for your own good, little one."

"I'm in year seven, Aunty Amelia. I am smart," Lucy said. She frowned and crossed her arms. "And I know that something is going on but no one wants to tell me what that is."

Amelia sighed. "What do you know?"

"I know that Mum has a lot of meetings for someone who's just a teacher and that she comes home very tired all the time. I know that the Headmaster of Hogwarts comes here for late night meetings with Mum and that she was talking with  _Nani_  and Aunt Daisy really quietly so no one else could hear when we were in Scotland for Christmas. And I know that everyone I've met from the Wizarding World pretends to be happy when they're actually sad. I know that you're doing it right now."

Amelia raised an eyebrow at her again. "Wow, you are very observant," she said. "Maybe you should think about becoming a detective."

"What's going on?" Lucy asked, not letting Amelia distract her. "Why is everyone sad?"

"We're not sad... we're just... I don't know, sweetheart. It's just not a very good time in the Wizarding World right now," Amelia said.

"That's what Mum said. Times are tough," Lucy replied. "But why are they tough?"

_Great_ , Amelia thought. She had wanted to avoid the hard stuff. This was not avoiding the hard stuff. What could she tell this little girl? That people were dying? That the Wizarding World was in shambles? No. This was a six year old girl who had just lost her father a few months ago. She couldn't tell her about the war. Lying felt like a good option. Parents do it all the time, right? She didn't know, she wasn't a parent and this right here was why.

Amelia sighed and took Lucy's hand in hers. "Okay, Lucy. I'm not going to talk to you like a baby. Times are tough. It's hard to understand why. It's hard for adults to understand why. We're trying to figure it out and I wish that I could give you a better answer than that but that's all I've got."

Lucy frowned but nodded. She thought for a minute before asking, "is it like the Great Depression? I read about it in one of Daniel's old textbooks."

Amelia smiled. "Kind of," she said. The depression part, definitely. Though this was very much more like what came right before the Great Depression. You're a really smart kid."

"Thank you for talking to me like a grown up," she said. "Everyone treats me like a baby because I'm small. Even at school. My teachers still talk to me differently than other students, even though I have the highest marks in all my classes."

"Some people don't understand," Amelia said with a small smile. "They're no fun but I will always treat you like an adult. I don't like it when people condescend to children."

"Me neither," Lucy said with a smile.

"Also, if you're really interested in law, next time I come over I can bring you some of my old law books," she said.

"Really? That would be awesome! Thank you."

"Of course," Amelia said with a smile. "I would love to inspire someone to come into my field."

Lucy smiled. She got up and hugged her. Amelia smiled and hugged her back.

"Well, love, I should probably get going and you should probably get to sleep. I can already see a lecture from your mother for keeping you up too late in my future."

Lucy laughed. "Okay," she said, getting back into bed. "Goodnight, Aunty Amelia."

"Goodnight, love," she said, getting up and giving Lucy a kiss on the forehead before leaving the room.

Amelia walked down the stairs and found Minerva and Daniel still in the office. She said goodbye to them and they also invited her to stay the night but again she declined. She told them that she could show herself out and headed for the door.

"You're leaving?" Raj asked, walking into the entrance hall from the kitchen as she put her shoes on.

Amelia looked up and smiled a little. "Yes," she said. "It's quite late. I should head home."

"It's too late to be driving for an hour into London," he said. "Why don't you stay the night?"

Amelia shook her head. "No, I really need to go," she said. "I have to go into work early tomorrow. I have a lot to do."

"Still working weekends, I see," he said. "That hasn't changed much."

She smiled and shook her head as she walked over to the closet and pulled out her coat.

"I won't ask what you and Minerva were talking about," he said, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms, and watching her put on her coat, "because I don't expect either of you to give me a straight answer but I did notice that you were both crying so I hope that everything is okay."

"We're okay, don't worry," Amelia said, not looking at him.

Raj didn't say anything. He just watched her.

Amelia zipped up her coat, looked up and smiled at him. "Well, I should head out," she said. "It was nice seeing you, Raj. Sorry again for dropping by so late."

"That's alright," he said. "You're always welcome here."

She smiled, said goodbye and headed out. Raj locked the door behind her and headed upstairs to his own bedroom. He noticed Lucy's bedroom light still on and walked over to it.

"You're still awake?" he asked, opening the door and looking over at the bed. To his surprise, Lucy was not awake. She was fast asleep with her blanket half off the bed and her comic book on her arm. Raj smiled and quietly walked towards the bed. He picked up the comic, a Wonder Woman one of course, and set it down on her bedside table. He fixed the blanket around her before walking back to the door, turning off the lights and leaving the room.


	10. Magic Dinner Parties

_**August 1991** _

_Minerva stormed back towards the bench where Amelia was sitting with her arms crossed. She huffed and sat down angrily. Amelia sighed and asked, "What did they say?"_

" _Wait_ _," Minerva muttered with disdain, leaning back against the wall and staring straight ahead. "That's all they ever say! I need real answers. Real explanations and real instructions! Is that too much to ask for?"_

" _I understand, Minerva, but -"_

" _I saw so many new mothers leaving the hospital the same day that we did carefully carrying their little bundles when all I had was my bloody suitcase!" she continued. "I felt awful. Like I wasn't a new mum. You can't be a new mum without a child to take care of."_

" _You are a new mother," Amelia said, giving her a reassuring smile though Minerva was still not looking at her. "You have to deal with a lot right now so it makes complete sense that you don't feel that great. You're allowed to not be okay, Minerva."_

" _It's hard to let yourself not be okay, Amelia. Especially when other people need you to be for them," Minerva said with a frown, still not looking at her. She sighed and let her arms fall to her side. "Two and a half months." The words came out as no more than a whisper. "Two and a half months early."_

_There was silence for a while. Minerva could hear the beeping of medical equipment in the NICU in front of them. She had been hearing that noise for about two weeks straight now and was starting to lose her mind. She knew her baby needed those machines but she still hated them. She hated the way they looked, the way they sounded, the wires that came off of them and crept their way into little Lucy's arms and chest. Lucy needed them to survive but Minerva needed her not to need them._

" _I think that you and Jay should take a break," Amelia said, breaking the silence finally. "Leave the hospital for a while. Go to dinner or even just a walk around Hyde Park or something. Anything to just get your mind off of everything for a little while."_

" _I can't leave!" Minerva exclaimed, finally looking over at her with a horrified expression on her face. "What if something horrible happens and I'm not here? What if she needs me? What if... I - I can't leave."_

" _Nothing's going to happen," Amelia reassured her. "It's okay to give yourself a break every once in a while, Minerva. Sitting at her bedside twenty four seven isn't going to do you any good."_

_Before Minerva could respond, Jay and Daniel walked over. Jay was holding three cups of coffees in his hands. He greeted them and handed out the coffees before sitting down beside Minerva, putting an arm around her, and pulling her close. Daniel sat down beside Amelia with his own cup of hot chocolate in hand._

" _I was just telling Minerva," Amelia said, "that the two of you should take a break. You've both been here every day since the fifteenth. You should go out. Get your mind off everything for a little while."_

" _And I was just telling Amelia," Minerva said with a frown, "that I can't do that."_

" _We have to stay here," Jay said with a sigh and a shake of his head, agreeing with his wife. "Just in case Lucy needs us."_

" _Isobel will be back from Castletown soon and Daniel and I will be here, right sweetheart?" Amelia said, looking over at Daniel._

_He smiled and nodded. "We can take care of Lucy," he said. "And Aunt Amelia can send you a message using -" he lowered his voice, "-_ _magic_ _if anything happens."_

" _Yes," Amelia said with a smile and a nod. She reached out and put a hand on Minerva's arm. "You need to let yourself relax for a little while, you both do. You can't live at this level of tension all the time. Lucy will be okay and if anything changes we will send word right away and you can get back here quickly."_

_Minerva stared at her for a long time without saying anything. Jay sighed again but nodded this time. He knew what Amelia was saying was true. He and Minerva were killing themselves, sitting by Lucy all the time, making sure she was okay. Lucy's condition hadn't changed in the two weeks they've been here and he doubted it would in the next few hours._

" _You're right, Amelia," he said. He looked down at Minerva. "We won't go anywhere too crazy or stay out for too long. We could just go out for dinner. Have some real food instead of this hospital rubbish."_

" _I think that's a good idea," Amelia said with a smile. She knew she had won now that she had gotten Jay on his side. "Please, Minerva. Take some time for yourself. You've given Lucy a hundred and ten percent every single day since she was born which is great but you're going to burn yourself out if you don't take a little bit of time to recuperate every once in a while."_

" _Are you sure that you'll be okay here without us?" Minerva asked, looking passed Amelia at Daniel, grasping for excuses now._

" _Of course," he said with a smile. "Aunt Amelia's here with me,_ _Nani_ _will be back soon and Uncle Raj is coming by later too."_

_"We'll be okay, Minerva," Amelia said. "Go, have a nice time with your husband and forget about your anxiety for a little while. We'll be here to make sure Lucy is okay."_

_Minerva looked between the two of them, then over at the NICU with a sigh, and then looked over at Jay who gave her a reassuring smile. "Fine," she said finally. "We'll go out. Just for one hour. To a restaurant close by."_

" _Great," said Jay with a small smile, getting up. "Well, what restaurant would you like to go to, darling?"_

_Minerva just shrugged._

" _Alright, we could just go walk down Praed Street until we find something nice," he said, offering Minerva his hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her up to her feet._

" _I've heard that Bizzarro is good if you want Italian," Amelia suggested. "Close by too."_

" _That sounds perfect," Jay said with a smile. "What do you say, Min?"_

" _Alright," Minerva muttered with a sigh. She looked over at Daniel. "I'm sorry we're going out to eat while you get only hospital food."_

" _That's okay," Daniel said with a laugh. "It's not that bad."_

" _We'll bring you back a nice dessert, bud," Jay said with a smile, reaching over and tousling his son's hair._

" _Thank you for staying with him, Amelia," Minerva said._

" _Of course," she said with a smile. "I'll wait for Isobel and then bring dinner for the three of us from the cafeteria."_

_Minerva nodded again. She and Jay said their goodbyes and headed towards the elevator to go down to the main floor._

_When they were gone, Amelia turned to Daniel. "Shall we go check on the baby?"_

_Daniel nodded and got up. They walked into the NICU and over to Lucy's room. Lucy was still laying in the incubator not doing very much. Daniel walked up to it and pressed his face against the glass._

" _She's not growing," he said._

" _I know," Amelia said with a sigh._

" _When will we be able to take her home?"_

" _When she starts growing."_

_Daniel backed up a bit and moved to the table by the incubator. He picked up the comic book on the table, walked back and pulled a chair up for himself. He had been reading to Lucy in hopes that it would help her get better. He would read the speech bubbles and then describe the pictures for her. Amelia smiled and pulled up her own chair so that she could listen to the story as well._

_Isobel arrived a little bit later. She had gone back to Castletown to check up on the house and inform some of her friends where she had disappeared to. She was happy to hear that Minerva and Jay were taking a little bit of a break from everything. She sat down and Amelia went to get the three of them dinner._

_As they were eating the door to the nursery opened again and in walked Raj. He smiled at them as he entered._

" _Hi, all," he said cheerfully. "How's the little one doing?"_

" _Uncle Raj!" Daniel said excitedly. "Lucy hasn't changed at all. We've just been talking to her and I'm reading her Batman comics."_

" _Not sure how age appropriate that is," Isobel said with a shake of her head though she smiled. "Hello, Raj."_

" _Isobel, Amelia," he said with a smile, pulling up a chair and sitting down with them. "How are you both? Where are Jay and Minerva?"_

" _We're fine," Amelia replied. "Jay and Minerva decided to finally take a little bit of a break. They went out for dinner on Praed Street."_

" _Great!" Raj said. "I'm guessing that took a lot of convincing."_

" _It did," Amelia said with a nod._

_Raj nodded knowingly. He knew his friend and his wife. He looked over at Daniel and gave him a smile. He reached over and tousled his hair a bit. "And they left you behind, bud?"_

" _Yeah," Daniel said with a laugh. "But it's okay. They said they would bring me back some dessert."_

" _That's good," he said with a smile. He pulled his chair a little closer to the incubator and looked down at the baby. "Hello, Princess Lucy. How are you doing today? It's me, Uncle Raj. Your favourite."_

" _Ah, excuse me," Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow. "I think I'm her favourite."_

" _No," he said with a shake of his head. He looked back at Amelia and flashed her an annoying smile. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you, Amelia, but it is me. I'm her favourite. Not you. Right, Daniel?"_

_Daniel looked up at his uncle and shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "She can't talk yet so she hasn't said who her favourite it."_

_Raj laughed and shook his head. "Oh, I don't need her to talk to know that it's me," he said. "I'm the fun one right?"_

" _Aunt Amelia is pretty fun too," Daniel said._

" _Yes, I am," Amelia said with a smile. "I'm definitely her favourite. I am her godmother after all."_

_Isobel rolled her eyes though she smiled. "You always pull out that card."_

" _Well, it's true," she said with a smile._

" _Well, I'm her god_ _father_ _," Raj replied. "And Daniel's too! So, I'm obviously the favourite."_

" _It's a shame really. You had two chances and have fallen short both times. I'm Lucy's favourite, obviously, and Daniel's too."_

" _No way. You haven't even been here as long as I have! I've known Daniel since he was born, you can't top that no matter how hard you try."_

_Daniel sighed and looked over at Isobel who gave him a small smile as Raj and Amelia kept fighting. Isobel was just glad that Robert wasn't here too. He would definitely join the fight. He thought he was Lucy's favourite too._

" _Now they're fighting over me," he mumbled with a shake of his head._

_Isobel laughed and shook her head too. "They're a little crazy," she said. "They just like each other, that's all."_

" _That's them liking each other?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow._

" _Sometimes when people like each other they act like that."_

" _Really? Where Min and Dad ever like that?"_

" _No, it's mostly when they like each other but they don't want to admit it," Isobel said._

" _Why don't they want to admit it?" Daniel asked confused._

_Isobel shrugged. "I think they're just scared that the other person doesn't like them back."_

" _But you just said that they both like each other. "_

" _Yes," Isobel said with a smile and a nod. "Sometimes you don't see it though. Sometimes it's just easier for others to see."_

" _I still don't really get it," Daniel said._

" _I think it's more of something you feel than something you get."_

" _That doesn't make sense," he mumbled. "Is this one of those things that adults say you'll understand when you're older?"_

" _I honestly don't think you'll get it when you're older either," Isobel said with a laugh._

" _Well, that's stupid," Daniel said with a frown. He shook his head, opened her comic book back up and turned back to Lucy. "I'm just going to go back to reading to Lucy."_

" _Alright," Isobel said with a smile, watching Amelia and Raj continue to argue about who Lucy and Daniel prefer for a second longer before turning and looking at the pictures in Daniel's book while he read._

_..._

" _It's a nice day," Jay said, trying to start up some conversation as he and Minerva walked down Praed Street towards the restaurant. Minerva hadn't said much since they left the hospital._

" _Hmm," she mumbled._

_Jay sighed and put an arm around her. "It'll be okay, love," he said. "Just try not to think about it for a little while. It's okay to take some time for yourself."_

" _How can you be so confident?" Minerva asked looking up at him in disbelief. "How can you be so sure that everything will be okay? What if it's not, Jay? I can't pretend that it's going to be because if it isn't, I'm not going to be able to live with myself."_

_Jay gave her a reassuring squeeze. "You're the one that's supposed to have faith, Minerva," he said with a little smile. "Mrs. Daughter and sister of Reverends."_

_She gave him a look._

" _Sorry," he said. He sighed and shook his head. "I know it's hard, Min, but, though I may not have as much faith in that kind of stuff as you all, I do have faith in our doctors and modern medicine. And I have faith in our daughter. She's strong, I know she is, and she's going to fight this. I believe she will."_

_Minerva sighed and leaned into his chest. He gave her another little squeeze. They finally made it to the restaurant and made an agreement to talk about anything other than the baby until they got back to the hospital. The pact worked and Minerva and Jay both got to relax a little bit after working at such a high stress level for the past two weeks. After dinner they went for a little walk on the streets nearby and then went back to the hospital where they found Amelia, Raj, Daniel and Isobel waiting for them._

* * *

_**Saturday, April 18th 1998** _

"I'm glad you four could make it," Minerva said with a smile as the Potters, Sirius and Marlene walked in through the door.

"Of course, Professor! Wouldn't miss it for the world," James said with a smile.

"Thank you for inviting us over," Lily said. She was six months pregnant now and getting a lot bigger. "I haven't been out of the house in a while and I haven't talked to any other adults in a while."

Minerva smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Augh," she mumbled with a sigh. "Being pregnant is hard."

"I know," Minerva said. "Alright, let's not stand around in the doorway."

"What do you mean you haven't talked to any adults? Marlene and I just came over yesterday," Sirius said, following Minerva further into the house. He was holding Marlene's hand as he walked.

"I meant what I said," Lily replied. She and James walked after them.

Marlene laughed. "It's okay," she said. "I don't want to be an actual adult."

Minerva led them to the living room and they sat down on the couches.

"So where is Lucy, Daniel and Nina?" Lily asked. "I'm excited to finally meet them. All I know about them is what these two creeps have told me."

"Yeah," Marlene said. "From what I've been told, they sound wonderful. I would love to actually meet them."

Minerva smiled. "Oh, Lucy should be home soon," she said, looking over at the clock on the wall. "She was at a friend's house. They're giving her a ride home. Unfortunately, Daniel and Nina won't be home until tomorrow. They went out with some friends. Going to some concert in London, I believe, to celebrate the end of exams."

Lily smiled. "Ah the end of the semester. Always a fun time."

"So Remus, Dorcas and Peter are also coming?" James asked.

"Remus and Dorcas are. Peter was busy, something to do with helping his mother with something," Minerva said.

"Yeah, he's been with her quite often since the death of his father," Sirius said sadly.

There was silence for a while until Minerva finally spoke again. "Albus will also be coming."

"Really? I haven't seen Professor Dumbledore is a really long time," Lily said.

The group talked for a while longer before the doorbell rings. Minerva got it and greeted Remus and Dorcas at the door. She led them to the living room where they sat and talked until Minerva heard the lock on the door click and Lucy call, "I'm home!"

"Hello, Lucy," Minerva said, "we're in the living room."

After a few seconds Lucy walked into the living room to find the guests sitting there staring at her. She stopped in her tracks and gave a shy little wave. "Hi..."

"Hello, Lucy! I'm James Potter," James said, holding out his hand for Lucy to shake. Lucy walked over to the couch slowly and nervously shook James hand. "We've actually met when you were very small. You probably don't remember."

"I'm sorry," Lucy said, bowing her head slightly.

James laughed. "That's alright."

"Hi, Lucy. I'm Lily, James's wife," Lily said, shaking Lucy's hand too. Lucy gave her a small smile.

"I'm Marlene McKinnon," Marlene said, shaking Lucy hand as well. "This is guy with the messy hair is my boyfriend, Sirius."

"My hair isn't messy," Sirius said, making Lucy giggle. "It's styled the way I want it." He shook her hand and said, "Hey, kid."

Remus shook his head but smiled. He reached out to shake Lucy's hand as well. "I'm Remus Lupin. How are you?"

"I'm okay," Lucy said, shaking his hand. She walked over to the last new person in the room.

"I'm Dorcas Meadowes," she said, shaking her hand too. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Lucy replied. She saw the bright red at the ends of Dorcas's hair and smiled. "I like your hair."

"Thank you," Dorcas said with a smile.

Lucy ran over to her mother. Minerva smiled at her and moved over so she could sit down next to her in the armchair. Lucy climbed up and looked at the faces still watching her.

"So you were at a friend's house, Lucy?" Lily asked.

Lucy nodded.

"What did you do?"

"Um, we watched the movie Aladdin... we both had seen it before but we wanted to watch it again and sing along with the songs," Lucy said quietly, looking down at her hands. "Do you know that movie? I know a lot of wizards and witches don't watch movies very much."

"Yeah, a lot of them don't but I have seen that movie," Lily said with a smile. "I love Disney movies."

"So do I," Dorcas said. "And I'm pretty sure Marlene does too. I've made her watch like all of them."

"Yes," Marlene said with a laugh. "I've seen literally all of them because of Dorcas here. They're good. I liked them."

"Me too," Lucy replied with a smile.

"I think I've seen that one," James said. He looked over at his wife. "Is that the one with the blue guy?"

"Yes," Lucy replied with a laugh.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about," Sirius said.

"I have not seen it either," Remus said with a smile. "What's it about?"

Lucy smiled and went into the story of Aladdin for Remus and Sirius. They listened to the story intently, very interested in this mysterious Aladdin guy who was apparently a diamond in the rough. Minerva smiled. She was glad that Lucy was getting along very well with her old students.

After Lucy was done explaining the story of Aladdin the adults began talking about other things and Minerva suggested Lucy play with some of her toys. Lucy got up and walked away with a sigh. She wished there were people her age here as she opened up a cabinet filled with games and toys. She pulled out the Lego set that she had been building and got started on it.

The adults talked for a while and Lucy played with her toys until the doorbell rang. Lucy looked over excitedly. "I'll get it!" she said as she ran from the room.

Minerva looked over at Sirius. "Do you mind going with her?"

"Not at all," he replied with a smile, getting up and following after Lucy.

They came back a couple minutes later with Dumbledore. Lucy was walking beside him excitedly telling him about her day with Anne. "And then after Aladdin we made cookies with her mum. They were chocolate chip and they were really good."

"That sounds fun," Dumbledore said with a smile. He looked at everyone sitting on the couches. "Good evening everyone."

"Hello, Albus," Minerva greeted with a smile.

Dumbledore joined the conversation and Lucy went back to sitting on the floor with her toys. Eventually they got up to go to the kitchen. Lucy got up and followed them too. Minerva flicks her wand and got everyone but Lily and Lucy a drink of whiskey. Lily wanted just water and Lucy got apple juice. Lily, James and Marlene sat down at the table while Sirius, Remus, Dorcas and Dumbledore stood around the island talking and Minerva checked on the food. Lucy walked around the counter to her mother.

"Do you need any help?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, if you could set the table, darling, that would be wonderful," Minerva said with a smile.

Lucy nodded and looked around the room. She counted nine heads including herself and walked towards the plate cupboard. Dumbledore watched as Lucy used magic to get plates, utensils, and glasses to fly out of the room and presumably set themselves on the dining table in the next room. She then walked to the dining room herself to look at where the things had landed and frowned.

"That's not where you're supposed to go," Lucy told the plates and silverware that were scattered across the table now. "Please do it properly."

The plates began to move first, each setting themselves in front of a seat at the table. Then the spoons, forks and knives moved to either side of the plates. The glasses followed suit, positioning themselves like Lucy wanted them too. Lucy smiled. "Thank you."

She ran back to the kitchen where the adults were. She walked around the counter again to where her mother stood and waited patiently as she and Dumbledore were talking about something. When they had finished, Minerva looked down at her expectantly.

"All done," Lucy said with a smile. "Do you need anything else?"

"No that's great, sweetheart, thank you," Minerva said with a smile. "Dinner will be served soon. Why don't you go wash up?"

Lucy nodded. Soon everyone moved to the dining room to eat. Dumbledore looked over at Lucy sitting beside her mother. "So, Lucy, you used magic to set the table?"

Lucy looked up and nodded shyly. "I've been practising using magic more," she said quietly.

Remus smiled. "Wow, that's pretty strong magic for somebody so young."

"Yes, quite," Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Well, I mean, she is McGonagall's daughter," Sirius said with a laugh. "I'm sure you also did loads of magic when you were... five?"

"Six!" Lucy said.

"Six, sorry kid," Sirius said with a laugh.

"I did not, actually," Minerva replied. "I did some, of course, but nothing that strong."

"What other magic can you do, Lucy?" Dorcas asked.

Lucy thoughtfully said, "hmm... sometimes I use magic to clean my room and to make my bed and... other chores."

"Haven't I also seen you -" Sirius began but before he could finish James stomped on his foot and Marlene elbowed him in the chest to cut him off.

Lucy looked at him suspiciously. "What do you mean seen me?"

Everyone turned to look at Sirius. He met Minerva's eye who was glaring daggers at him and thought quickly. "No, I meant haven't I also seen  _young_  people change their hair with magic! Like Dorcas."

"Like the colour?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't give her those kinds of ideas, Black," Minerva said making Lucy smile.

"I think I might look nice with blue hair," Lucy said with a smile. Minerva glared at her and Lucy quickly added, "I wouldn't do it, of course."

Everyone laughed. Dorcas smiled and said, "What's wrong with different coloured hair, Minerva?"

"Nothing, of course," Minerva replied with a smile. "On other people."

"That's the best though, huh? Doing your chores with magic," Marlene said with a smile. "You don't ever have to clean your own room or do your own laundry. It's pretty awesome."

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, so I have more time to do fun stuff."

"What do you like to do for fun?" James asked, as if he didn't already know.

"Read or play games or watch movies," Lucy said. "Or go outside or hang out with Daniel and Nina or Uncle Raj or Anne. They're pretty awesome. Uncle Raj was my dad's best friend. He stays with us sometimes but he had work to do in London today. Daniel's my brother and Nina is his girlfriend. They're not here right now because they picked Billy Joel over me."

"Well, Billy Joel..." Sirius mumbled, earning him another elbow to the chest from Marlene. He glared at her but she just smiled.

Lucy smiled. "It's okay. I would probably pick Billy Joel too."

They ate their dinner and talked happily. Forgetting about the war for a little while. Afterwards, however, they had to think about it again. Lucy was moved into the living room while the adults discussed the darker topics of the war in the dining room.

"I heard about Mary," Minerva said with a sigh.

"She put up a good fight," Dorcas said sadly, "but there was just so many of them."

"I should have done more," Marlene whispered. "I should have fought harder and quicker and then maybe she would be okay now."

"It's not your fault, Marls," Sirius said, putting an arm around her and giving her a squeeze. They had gotten back together shortly after the death of Mary MacDonald. He had told himself that they wouldn't until after the war was over but it happened anyways. This time felt different than the last times though. This time it felt real. It felt like it actually might last.

"It isn't," Dumbledore reassured her. "You did the best you could."

"She knew that this was a possibility. We all know," Lily whispered, resting her head on James's shoulder. James gave her hand a squeeze and looks down at her stomach with a sigh.

"How did this happen?" James said, looking over at Dumbledore.

"Things are getting worse. The Death Eaters are going after all Order members," he replied sadly.

"Yes, but what James means is, how did they know that we would be there?" Remus interjected. "They knew that a group of Order members would be in Roy at that time and they came in numbers."

"Are you suggesting that there is a leak in the Order, Remus?" Minerva asked.

Remus looked at her. She didn't seem to be accusatory or hurt by his insinuation so he continued. "Maybe. I just want us to explore all possibilities."

Dumbledore nodded. "I have thought about this possibility. It would explain how the Death Eaters have managed to attack Order members so precisely."

"Who?" Minerva asked frowning. She could not believe that any one of her friends or colleagues were working for Voldemort.

"I do not know," Dumbledore replied, looking down at his tea cup.

"I hate this. The paranoia, the mistrust. These are our friends," Lily said. "Or at least I thought they were."

"I mean, we sit here and drink our tea, pretending that everything is okay but it's not. Things are getting worse. The list of confirmed deaths gets longer every day," James mumbled. He looked down at Lily's belly and sighed. Looking up at Minerva, he said, "How do you manage that? How do you come here every day and put on a brave face for Lucy, Daniel and Nina? How do you pretend that everything is okay so they won't worry?"

"It is hard. Especially on days where the lists contain too many familiar names," Minerva replied quietly. "But coming home and talking with Lucy, who is happily oblivious to everything that's happening outside this house, it helps. It's nice to be pulled out of the war, even if it's just for a little while."

"It's probably good for your mental state too," Remus said with a sigh.

"I wish I had that," Dorcas mumbled.

"Me too," Marlene agreed.

Minerva sighed. She decided to change the topic. "Amelia told me about the trial of Igor Karkaroff and Antonin Dolohov," she said. "Dolohov was the one who was leading the group that attacked Fabian and Gideon. They've been sent to Azkaban."

"That's good news at least," Lily said.

Sirius sighed and stood up. "Well, I'm officially bummed out and have decided that I would prefer Lucy's company," he said. He looked over at Marlene. "Would you like to join me? I'm going to go play with her."

Marlene smiled and nodded. She set down her glass and got up, following Sirius out of the room. James and Lily both give him a look as he walked by.

"Don't worry. I'm great with kids," he whispered with a smile as he passed them.

Minerva smiled as she watched them go. The adults that remained kept discussing the war while Sirius and Marlene walked into the living room to find Lucy sitting on the couch watching television.

"Hello, Lucy," Marlene said, coming over and sitting down near her.

"Hi," Lucy replied, muting the television and looking at her and Sirius.

Sirius walked over and sat down beside Marlene. "Hey, Lucy. We got bored talking with all those adults and thought we might have more fun playing out here with you."

"Really?" Lucy said with a smile on her face.

"Yes," Marlene said with a laugh. "Do you want to play a game or something?"

"Okay!" Lucy slid down from the couch and walked towards the game cabinet. Marlene and Sirius follow her. "What do you want to play? We have a lot of games."

"Wow," Sirius said, sitting down in front of the cupboard filled with board games and cards and toys so he could look through all the games. "Why do you have so many?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. We just bought them so that we could play them. Didn't you have board games at your house?"

"No, not really," Sirius mumbled. Marlene gave him a small smile. "So, which games do you like?"

"Hmm, I like  _Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?_  We can play that if you want," Lucy said.

"Okay," Sirius said with a smile.

"I'm down," Marlene said. "You'll have to teach us though. We've never played it."

"Okay," Lucy said with a smile. As she pulled out the game, she said, "No one's ever come and played with me instead of talking with Mum before."

"Really?" Sirius asked with a laugh. "I would much rather play games than have boring conversations over tea."

"What are they talking about?" Lucy asked, leading them over to the coffee table where they could set up the game.

"Eh, nothing interesting," Marlene said, not looking at Lucy. "Okay, how do we play?"

Lucy smiled and set up the game. She explained the rules and how to play and they began their game.

...

"Minerva, we have discussed Professor Trelawney's prophecy," Dumbledore said. He and Minerva were sitting alone in the home office having a drink and discussing the war. Remus, Sirius, Marlene, Dorcas and the Potters had left and Lucy was supposed to be in bed but she was using her mother's distraction to stay up late and watch television.

"I still can't believe you gave her the job," Minerva mumbled. "And already have her moved into the castle."

Dumbledore smiled. "Of course, she is a real Seer after all and she has a very large target on her back now."

Minerva sighed. "Real Seer," she muttered with a shake of her head. "I will agree she has a target on her back but you have talked to her, haven't you? She's..."

"Eccentric," he said with a small smile.

"That's one way of putting it."

"Well, I would like to discuss the first part of the prophecy that mentioned a witch," he replied.

"You have come up with a theory?"

"Well, I've been doing some thinking and have come to the conclusion that the witch may be Lucy."

Minerva looked at him for a second. "Lucy..."

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Born half witch and half muggle. She was born through turmoil."

"I suppose," she said. "But powers unlike any other? Other children can do magic before coming to Hogwarts as well."

"Yes but none with this amount precision and control," Dumbledore pointed out. "Why don't you call her and she can show us her magic?"

Minerva looked Dumbledore over for a second before shaking her head and standing up. She set her now empty glass onto the desk and walked out of the office towards the living room. She looked at Lucy who was sitting on the couch watching some cartoon on the television. Minerva sighed and said, "Lucy."

" _Ji_?" Lucy said without looking away from the TV.

"Albus and I want to talk to you quickly, please turn off the television and follow me."

Lucy looked over at her mother quizzically for a second before nodding and saying, "Okay..."

She grabbed the remote, turned off the television and slid off the couch. Lucy followed her mother back to the home office, a little worried about what she might have done to be called into her mother's office.

Minerva sat back down at her chair while Lucy stood in front of the desk near Dumbledore's chair. He gave her a small smile and said, "Lucy, your mother and I were just discussing how much you are improving at your magic."

"Really?" Lucy asked, pushing her hair away behind her ears.

"Yes," Dumbledore said with a nod. "And I was wondering if you would perform some magic for me."

"Um, okay," Lucy said. "What do you want me to do?"

"Whatever you feel comfortable with."

"Okay," Lucy said, looking around the room. She saw the two empty glasses on the desk and walked over to it. She picked up the two glasses in her hands and slowly they got smaller and she was able to closer her hands around them. After a second she opens her hands again and two white butterflies flutter out and fly around the room. Lucy smiled as she watched them go. The butterflies seemed to glow and left a small trail of white light as they flew around the room. Minerva smiled as the butterflies flew around her. Lucy giggled a little bit and then holds out her finger. The butterflies came back and landed on her finger. She slowly covers them with her other hand, clasps her hands together and when she opens her hands this time she was holding a glass in each hand. She set them back down and looked from Dumbledore to her mother. "Was - was that good?"

"Wow, that - that was great, Lucy," Minerva said. "You transfigured the glasses. That's very hard magic. Where did you learn that?"

Lucy shrugged. "I read the textbooks you gave me and I tried it myself."

"And she doesn't require a wand," Dumbledore said quietly.

_Power not confined to a wand but surged through her whole body._ The words danced through Minerva's mind. She sighed and looked Lucy over. She was so young... so small... so innocent. She was not ready to fight in a war. She was a baby. She was Minerva's baby. Minerva motioned for Lucy to come to her. When she got close enough Minerva took Lucy's arm in her hand and pulled her over to her. Lucy looked at her questioningly. Minerva gave her a small smile and pulled her into a hug. Lucy giggled. Dumbledore gave Minerva a small reassuring smile.

"Mum! What are you doing?" Lucy asked with a laugh.

"Nothing," Minerva mumbled. She straightened up and let Lucy go. "Alright, love. Thank you. You may go. No more TV, though. Please go upstairs and get ready for bed."

"Um, okay," Lucy said, looking a little confused. She looked at Minerva and then over to Dumbledore before running out of the room and up the stairs.

Minerva sighed. She looked at the door that Lucy had just walked out of for a few moments longer before turning back to Dumbledore and shaking her head. "She's so young, Albus," she said. "She's just a child. She can't fight in a war."

"No, we will not be having her man the front lines any time soon," Dumbledore said. "But have you started training her? She is young but she seems hungry for knowledge. You might as well begin teaching her to use her magic."

"I suppose," Minerva mumbled, still not happy about this new development. She sighed. She now had a new fear that she could stay awake at night worrying about. She turned her head and looked at the family photo that sat on the desk. She looked at Lucy's smiling face staring back at her. She had been getting so much better lately. She was almost back to her old, energetic, cheerful self. Minerva didn't want her to regress again. "She's just a child, Albus. Both mentioned in the prophecy are. They don't need this kind of pressure!"

"They don't, and we won't let them feel any of that pressure right now," Dumbledore said with a frown. "For now let them be children. I have yet to tell the Potters and the Longbottom of this prophecy. I thought for now both Lily and Alice have enough on their minds."

Minerva nodded. There was a moment of silence before Minerva smiled a little and said, "She has a great aptitude for transfigurations."

Dumbledore smiled. "She does. You must be very proud."

"I am."

* * *

_**Sunday, April 19th 1998** _

"Alright, Lucy," Minerva said, sitting down on the floor in front of the coffee table with a textbook in hand. "We'll do Charms today."

Lucy was sitting opposite Minerva with her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. Nina and Daniel were out and Raj was at work so Minerva had thought this was a perfect time for Lucy to practice her magic. This way if something went wrong she could clean it up before they got home. Lucy smiled. "Okay!"

"The first spell we will try is  _Wingardium Leviosa_ ," Minerva said, pulling a tennis ball from her pocket and setting it in between her and Lucy. "This charm is used to lift things into the air. Okay, repeat after me;  _Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa."_

" _Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, Wingardium Leviosa_ ," Lucy repeated cheerfully.

"Good. Now, focus on the ball and say the spell."

Lucy nodded, holding her hands up in front of her. Her little fingers spread out as if she was ready to catch something. She stared at the ball intently. " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

The ball began to shake slightly before slowly floating upwards. It went up and up until it hit the ceiling. Lucy looked up at with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh my god! I did it!" she cheered. "On my first try too!"

Lucy had stopped focusing and the ball started falling back towards the ground. She watched it and quickly threw her arms over her head to protect herself from the ball. Minerva quickly flicked her wand and the ball slowed and stopped right above Lucy's head. Lucy looked up when the ball never hit her and stared at it frozen in the air. She smiled, reached up and grabbed it.

"Good job, Lucy. I'm very impressed you got it on your first try," Minerva said with a smile. Lucy beamed. "Now, the spell I just used was  _Arresto Momentum_. It allows the caster to slow the movement of an object. It's a more difficult charm. It is usually taught in second year Charms class at Hogwarts. We will be trying this spell as well but I want you to practising the levitation charm a few more times first. Just so that you can get it down pat."

"Okay," Lucy said, putting the ball back between them. Lucy raised her hand and tried the levitation charm a few more times, managing to get the ball up in the air every single time. Every single time she was very excited.

Minerva smiled as she watched the ball rise. She watched Lucy's face brighten every time the ball rose. "Okay, good job," she said. "Ready to move on now?"

Lucy nodded. She was bored of this spell now and was very ready to learn a new one. She looked up at Minerva excitedly.

"Okay. Let's try  _Arresto Momentum_ , then," Minerva said. "Can you say that?  _Arr-est-o Mo-men-tum_."

" _Arresto Momentum_ ," Lucy repeated happily. "Are you going to throw the ball at me and I have to slow it down?"

"Well, I was thinking I would just throw this ball up in the air and you could slow down it's fall but if you would prefer the added incentive of stopping it from hitting you in the face we could do that instead," Minerva said with a smile.

Lucy laughed. "Maybe not."

"Alright, are you ready?"

Lucy nodded again, hands up, and Minerva threw the ball in the air. It sped upwards and then began to fall back down.

" _Arresto Momentum_!" Lucy yelled. The ball fell at the same speed and hit the ground. Minerva caught it as it started to bounce away. Lucy frowned. "It didn't work."

Minerva smiled. "Well, it was only your first attempt. Like I said, this spell is a little more difficult. Let's try again, shall we?" she said, holding out the ball again. "Try concentrating harder on seeing the ball slowing down in your mind. Ready?"

Lucy nodded intently, hands at the ready. Minerva threw the ball upwards again. As it fell Lucy exclaimed, " _Arresto Momentum_!"

This time the ball slowed down this time until it came to a stop right before it hit the ground. Lucy put her hands up and the ball fell the few centimetres to the floor. "I did it!"

Minerva laughed. "You did. Good job, sweetheart," she said. "Let's practice a few more times just to make sure."

Lucy nodded. They practiced a couple more times and each time the ball slowed to a stop right before it hit the ground.

"Good job, Lucy," Minerva said with a smile, picking up the ball and rolling it around in her hands. "You've done very well. You're a very fast learner."

Lucy smiled. "Is that it? We're only doing two spells?"

"I think that's enough for one day," Minerva said, starting to get up. "Raj, Daniel and Nina will be home soon and I still have to get started on dinner."

Lucy nodded. She stood up too and followed her mother towards the kitchen. "I can't wait to show Daniel and Nina what I learned!"

Minerva smiled. "I'm sure they will be very impressed as well."

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"When you did the  _Arresto Momentum_  spell on the ball you didn't say anything and it still worked. How come I can't do that?" Lucy asked.

"Well, first you have to learn the spells, of course. Use them properly and all that. Then when you are comfortable with them you can start doing them non-verbally. You just have to think it in your mind and it will work," Minerva explained. "You'll be able to do it too soon. I just want you to learn the spells first."

"That makes sense," Lucy replied, making Minerva smile.


	11. In Loving Memory of Edgar Bones

**_June 1992_ **

" _I was surprised when you called," Amelia said with a small smile. She was sitting in the booth in the London bar they always sat at when they went out for drinks with Minerva sitting across from her. "It's been so long since we all went out like this."_

" _Hmm... yes, it has," Minerva said a little absentmindedly. She looked at her watch quickly before shaking her head and looking up at Amelia. She gave her a smile. "Let's not let that happen again. We should do this at least once a month."_

" _I agree," Amelia said. "I've missed it. And now you can finally drink as much as you want because you're no longer breastfeeding."_

" _This will actually be my first drink," Minerva said with a smile. "I've been waiting to have it with you all."_

" _That's exciting," Amelia said with a laugh._

_Just then Raj and Jay came back to the booth with glasses in their hands. They sat down and handed out drinks. Minerva took a big gulp. She definitely needed this._

" _Whoa, slow down there," Raj said with a laugh. "Take it easy. You haven't drank in a long time."_

" _I've been dealing with a very energetic baby, who has now learned how to run. Not just walk but run," Minerva said. "I need this."_

_Raj laughed. "So is Christie watching the kids?"_

" _Yes," Jay said with a nod. "It's the first time Minerva's actually left Lucy alone. She was freaking out all the way over here."_

" _Oh, so that's why she's being so distracted lately," Amelia said._

" _I'm not distracted," Minerva said with a frown. "And I was not freaking out all the way here. I just need a nice drink."_

" _Uh huh," Raj said._

" _Maybe this was a bad idea," she said, shaking her head. "You three are very mean to me. I should have just stayed home."_

" _I think you've been hanging out with a child too much," Raj said with a laugh. "You need more adult conversation."_

_Minerva sighed. "You're right," she said. "The only time I ever got adult conversation was during lunch at Collins Enterprises and the occasional phone call which I'm still mad at you for, Amelia. You should have come visited me more."_

" _I'm sorry, Minerva," Amelia said with a smile. "I should have visited and called more. Then maybe you wouldn't be so adult conversation starved."_

" _Maybe," Minerva said. She sighed and checked her watch again. She looked around the bar quickly before spotting a pay phone a little ways away. "It's almost time for Lucy to go to bed. I should call home to make sure Christie has her in bed."_

" _Minerva, stop," Jay said, grabbing her before she could get up. "Christie knows what she's doing. Just try to enjoy yourself."_

" _Well, she's going to be sad if I'm not there to tell her goodnight," Minerva said, trying to get up again. Jay wasn't making it easy. He held her close to him. "I should call and just tell her goodnight."_

" _You told her goodnight before we left," Jay said._

_Amelia smiled and shook her head. "Minerva, Lucy will be fine," she said. "Drink your scotch and enjoy your first night not having to worry about her."_

" _Not having to worry about her," Minerva said, furrowing her brow and shaking her head._

" _Well," Raj said. "How about we talk about something else? Ah... we could talk about..." he looked over at Amelia beside him. "Amelia?"_

" _Ah... how's work going, Jay?" Amelia asked._

" _It's going well," Jay said, loosening his grip on Minerva slightly. She straightened up, straightening her clothes, and gave him a look. He smiled and rested his arm around her a little gentler this time. "We've been very busy recently with all the new projects we were able to start because of the resources that Howard Stark has given us."_

" _How come he's given you so much?" Amelia asked._

" _It's some new deal we struck with them," Raj said. "Jay offers some consulting services and they invest in some of our projects."_

" _Why does he need you as a consultant?" Minerva asked. "Don't get me wrong, you are wonderful and a great business man but Howard Stark has been running Stark Industries since before the Second World War. Why would he need your help now?"_

" _It's for another company he's started," Jay said. "Not Stark Industries. The one that he and Peggy Carter work on together. It's still quite underground. That's why you haven't heard of it."_

" _What's it called?" Amelia asked._

" _Sword and Shield, I think," Raj said. "They're in security, right?"_

" _Yes," Jay said with a nod._

" _Jay's been doing a lot of work for them," Raj said. "Always so tired by the end of the day. I'm a little worried that it may start affecting your Collins Enterprises work."_

" _Don't worry, I won't let that happen," Jay said. "Collins Enterprises is much higher on my priority list than this company."_

" _You have been very overworked lately," Minerva said. "You worked late three out of five days this week and you've started going into work on Saturdays too. I worry that you're not giving yourself enough of a break, love."_

" _I'll be fine, darling," Jay said with a smile. "What about you, Amelia? Heard things are getting pretty busy for you as well."_

" _Oh, yes," Amelia said with a sigh. "I've got a lot of court cases lined up this week. I've been working late just as much as you have unfortunately."_

" _And Amelia has always worked weekends," Minerva said with a shake of her head._

" _A lot of people breaking the law, huh?" Raj said. "That sucks. Though I guess it keeps you in business, right?"_

" _I suppose," Amelia said. "Though I do wish more people would just follow the law."_

" _That's the dream," Raj said with a smile._

" _What about you, Raj?" Minerva asked. "How's work going for you?"_

" _Busy," Raj said. "With Jay busy with Stark and Carter, I've got a lot more on my plate. Not that I really mind, of course. I like doing what I can."_

" _Thank you, Raj," Jay said with a smile._

" _Of course," Raj said. "You'll be going back work in September, won't you Minerva?"_

" _I will be, yes," Minerva said. "Lucy will be a year old then. She'll stay with Christie during the day."_

" _I can't believe she'll already be a year old," Jay said with a serene sigh._

_Minerva sighed too and took another big gulp of her drink. "Kids are hard," she mumbled with a shake of her head, suddenly very tired. "Lucy is harder to deal with than Daniel."_

" _She's a lot younger than he is," Raj said. "Daniel was just as crazy when he was her age. Maybe Jay just makes very crazy children."_

" _Daniel was much more wild than Lucy, I must say," Jay said. "Drove us crazy. Couldn't sit still for even a second. Football helped. It gave him an outlet for that energy. When Lucy's a little older we'll put her in something like that. Something she'll like that she can run off some of that energy in."_

" _What are you thinking?" Amelia asked._

" _Whatever she likes," Jay said. "It'll be up to her to decide. Daniel chose piano and football himself."_

" _I think she should do an instrument as well," Minerva said. "I'll push for that. It's a little early for that now though. She does like hitting the piano keys though. Thinks it's fun."_

" _Drives Daniel mad," Jay said with a laugh. "She always sits beside him when he's practicing and bangs the keys."_

_Amelia smiled. "Maybe she's learning from him already."_

" _I wouldn't be surprised," Raj said. "Daniel's trying to teach her everything already. The alphabet, numbers, basic math."_

" _He takes credit for teaching her his name as well," Minerva said with a smile. "He's a good older brother."_

" _He is," Jay said with a smile. "I'm glad they get along so well. Lucy absolutely loves spending time with her brother. Daniel spares some time here and there."_

" _He likes playing with her too," Raj said with a smile. "Even if he won't admit."_

" _Unless it gets in the way of him going out with his friends," Amelia said with a smile._

" _Of course," Minerva said with a laugh._

" _So, are you excited to get back to work then?" Raj asked._

" _Yes, I am," Minerva said with a smile. "I missed teaching. Staying at home with Lucy was great, of course, but I'm ready to go back to school."_

" _I'm sure James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter have missed you greatly," Jay said with a laugh. Minerva gave him a look._

" _Who are they?" Raj asked._

" _Some of Minerva's most troublesome students," Jay said._

" _I'm sure that they'll have something excited planned for your first day back," Amelia said with a smile._

" _Oh, I'm sure they will," Minerva mumbled, sounding very tired again all of a sudden._

_Raj laughed and shook his head. "Well, how would they keep their title of most troublesome if they don't cause the most trouble?"_

" _I'm guessing you were also one of your teachers' most troublesome students," Minerva said giving him a look._

" _I don't know what you mean," Raj said, chin up and hand over his heart. "I was a wonderful student."_

" _I'm sure you were."_

" _Oh, I was," Raj said. His smile faded and his hand fell to his side. "Had to be if I didn't want to get a beating from my old man."_

_Minerva's smile faded. "Oh," she said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."_

_Raj shrugged. "Nothing to worry about," he said. "My father wasn't a great guy. That's not your fault."_

_There was silence for a while before Raj said, "hey, hey, I didn't mean to bring down the mood. Let's talk more about Lucy." He looked at Amelia. "She showed me the doll you got her. Pretty cool. I haven't really seen any Indian dolls before."_

" _It was hard to find," Amelia said._

_Minerva realized now why they always talked about her and Jay or Amelia and never really about Raj. This is why Raj didn't really like talking about himself. Why he clammed up when she asked him about his childhood. She felt bad. She wished that Jay had warned her not to say stupid, insensitive things like that._

" _Custom made, I'm guessing," he said. "What with the grey eyes."_

" _Yes," Amelia said with a nod._

_Minerva looked at Jay who gave her a small reassuring smile and a little squeeze. She gave him a look and he nodded. They would talk about it later._

" _That's nice," Raj said. "It's her favourite toy now, I think."_

" _Oh no," Jay said with a shake of his head. "That would be the cat that I gave her when she was born. She named it Tula before she could even really speak."_

" _I could have guessed that part," Raj said with a laugh. "Tula. Doesn't really sound like a name a kid would pick up somewhere."_

" _There's also that stuffed sheep that Malcolm gave her," Amelia said. "I think she named that one Shawn."_

" _Yes, but I think she definitely prefers Rin over Shawn," Minerva said with a smile. "She loves that doll now. Keeps it with her everywhere she goes."_

" _I'm glad she likes it," Amelia said with a smile._

_They talked for a while longer before Raj got up to get the next round. Amelia turned and looked at him for a second before turning back and looking at Jay. "Were Raj's parents abusive?"_

_Jay sighed. "His father wasn't a very happy man," he said, pulling Minerva a little closer. "He doesn't really have a problem talking about it anymore which I guess is good. Means he's coping, right?"_

" _I suppose," Minerva said softly. She looked up at the man waiting at the bar. He caught her eye and smiled at her. She smiled back. "I mean he seems okay now."_

" _Yes, he's doing well now," Jay said with a nod._

" _Are his parents still alive?" Amelia asked._

" _No," Jay said with a shake of his head. "I think his father saw some pretty bad stuff in the war and started drinking a lot to try and forget about it. He wasn't a great drunk. Raj and his mother got away from him when he was fourteen, I think. He killed himself not long after that."_

" _Wow..." Minerva whispered. She realized that she had known this man for a very long time but still didn't know very much about him._

" _His mother died when he was thirty. He took good care of her up until the end," he continued. "Bought her a nice house, got her the best care. She passed away in her sleep. Natural causes. He never cried. At least around me anyway. I've never seen him cry."_

_Amelia sighed. "I hope he's okay."_

_Jay smiled. "I think he is," he said. "Raj is really resilient. He's been through some pretty bad stuff but he's come out the other end a great person. He's caring and loving and he's wonderful with Lucy and Daniel."_

" _He is," Minerva said with a nod. "I wonder if that was what put him off marriage."_

" _I don't know. It could be," he said. "Don't treat him any different now that you know. He wouldn't like that."_

" _Of course not," Amelia said._

" _We would never," Minerva said._

" _Don't worry about him," Jay said. "It was a long time ago and he's worked really hard to move on. He'll be okay."_

_Minerva nodded and leaned against Jay again. Jay smiled and kissed her temple. "It's kind of amazing," she said. "He's such a fun and happy person. To have gone through such a horrible thing so young... I can't imagine."_

" _It's funny how that works sometimes," Jay said. "Sometimes the happiest people are the ones who've learned to be happy through a lot of adversity."_

" _I guess it makes sense," Amelia said. "I really commend him for that."_

" _So do I," Minerva said with a nod._

_Jay changed the subject to something else and Raj came back with their drinks. They sat in the bar talking and laughing for a couple hours. Soon it was late and everyone was about ready to go home. Amelia leaned back in her booth and yawned. She looked over at Raj who was scanning the bar._

" _Who will you be going home with today, then?" she asked._

" _Ah, I'm hurt, Bones," he said, putting a hand over his heart. "I'm not looking around for a prey, if that's what you're suggesting."_

" _Of course not," Minerva said with a smile. "Though, I did notice that one in the blue. She keeps looking over at you every so often."_

_Raj turned and looked at the blonde by the bar. He gave her a little smile before turning back to look at the others. "You know, you guys make pretty good wingmen," he said. Minerva gave him a look. "Or wingwoman, of course."_

_Minerva rolled her eyes. "I'm not your wingwoman," she said. "I don't think you need my help very much anyways."_

" _You're right. I'm very charming."_

" _I was talking about your size of your wallet," she said with a smile. "It's the best wingman you've got, I would say."_

" _How do you think I got this one?" Jay asked with a laugh._

" _Exactly," Minerva said with a smile._

" _I knew it," Raj said with a laugh. "And now she's got one of your kids, Jay. You're trapped."_

" _It seems I am," he said with laugh. "I've never enjoyed being trapped before."_

" _Stockholm syndrome?" Amelia asked._

" _Maybe," Jay said, pulling Minerva closer to him. He smiled at her. "Well, we should go. Raj, I hope that I don't have to wake up tomorrow to deal with another girl who won't leave your apartment."_

" _I'm sure she's not like that one."_

" _What happened?" Minerva asked._

_Raj shrugged. "Brought a girl back and I guess she really liked my place," he said. "Refused to leave and I had to enlist Jay's help."_

" _Where do you find these women?" Amelia said with a shake of her head._

" _I believe I met her the same restaurant that I met you, Bones," he said with a laugh. "So…"_

" _Go," Amelia mumbled._

" _I'm going," he said. He looked at Jay and Minerva. "See you Monday. I expect you and Lucy will be coming down to Collins Enterprises for lunch on Monday as well?"_

" _Yes, we'll be there," Minerva said with a smile. "She loves coming to see her daddy and Uncle Raj at work."_

" _And we love seeing her too," he said with a smile. He looked over at Amelia. "And you, Bones, better not be going into work on a Sunday. I'm going to call you to make sure."_

" _And what will you do if I am?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow._

" _I will come down to the courthouse and drag you out myself," Raj said. "And before you say that I won't be able to get in. I will find a way."_

_Amelia smiled and shook her head. "Go, you don't want to keep your woman waiting too long," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand._

_He smiled, said one last goodbye, and headed for the door, grabbing his coat on the way. Minerva watched him walk up to the bar and introduce himself to the woman in the blue dress and buy her a drink. She smiled and shook her head before looking back at Amelia._

" _You two really need to talk to each other," she said._

" _Oh god, not this again," Amelia said with a shake of her head, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of her drink. "Jay, control your wife."_

" _If only I knew how to do that," Jay said, earning himself a pointed look from Minerva. He smiled and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, love."_

" _Well," Minerva said, looking back at Amelia, "since you're not going into work tomorrow, you should come over for dinner. See the kids. They miss you."_

" _I'm still going into work," Amelia said. "There's too much to be done with the riots that happened recently. All those arrested need to processed and tried. That means a lot of paperwork for me to deal with."_

" _You heard Raj," Jay said. "He's going to call you tomorrow and if you don't pick up he will go down to the courthouse. He wasn't lying. That is something he would completely do."_

" _Then he would end up at the wrong building and probably get in trouble for trying to get in," Minerva said with a shake of her head. "And at some point he will most likely learn that there is in fact no judge named Amelia Bones that works there and then you will have a lot of explaining to do."_

" _Then I'll just wait for his call and go in afterwards," Amelia said with a shrug._

" _No, because then I will come drag you out of the office," Minerva said._

" _You can try. I doubt you'll have much luck."_

" _Do you really want to start a duel with me in the middle of the Ministry building?" Minerva asked. "Because you know that I wouldn't back down from a challenge like that, even from you, Amelia Bones."_

" _Eh, it'll be a Sunday so I don't suspect there will be many people there," Amelia said. "Maybe it's about time we had another duel."_

" _I beat you last time, if you remember," Minerva said._

" _I do not recall."_

" _Of course you don't."_

" _Okay," Jay said. "Or, this is just a suggestion now, you limit your time at work tomorrow and come over for dinner afterwards. That's a good compromise, don't you think?"_

" _I don't like that," Minerva said with a frown. "She still goes to work which is exactly what we're trying to avoid."_

" _That's what compromise means, Minerva," Amelia said. Minerva gave her a look. Amelia smiled and looked at Jay. "I would love to come over for dinner tomorrow, Jay. Thank you for the nice, accommodating, invitation."_

_Minerva rolled her eyes. "You two are insufferable."_

_Jay smiled and kissed her again. "No, we're not," he said. "You love us."_

" _Do I?"_

" _You do," Amelia said with a smile._

" _Well, there was my first mistake," Minerva said making them both laugh._

" _Well, shall we head out?" Jay asked._

" _Yes, it's getting quite late," she said with a nod. She motioned to Raj, who was now walking the girl in the blue dress out the door, with her head. "We better go before Amelia gets too jealous."_

_Jay laughed as he stood up and offered his hand out to his wife. Minerva smiled and took it. Amelia rolled her eyes at Minerva as she got up._

" _I'm just going to leave without you two," Amelia said. "You're both so annoying."_

" _Oh, calm down," Minerva said with a smile as she and Jay put on their coats and followed Amelia towards the door. "Maybe, if you could swallow your pride for long enough, you and he could -"_

" _Finish that sentence and I cannot be held responsible for what I do to you next, Minerva McGonagall," Amelia said dangerously._

_Minerva laughed. "Cute, you think you could hurt me."_

" _I know I can," she said._

_"Uh huh," Minerva said._

" _As much as I'd love to see the duel that results from this," Jay said as they walked out into the cold London night. "I feel it might be better if that did not occur so how about we all agree to disagree on this topic."_

" _The problem is that it's my opinion of this topic that matters, not yours or your wife's," Amelia said._

" _Of course, I agree," Minerva said. "I'm just saying that I know that you know that he likes you and you like him too."_

" _That was a complicated sentence," Jay said. "And I'm too drunk to decode it."_

_Minerva laughed and put an arm around Jay lovingly. "It's okay, my love," she whispered to him. "Just focus on walking straight."_

" _I'm not that drunk," Jay said with a laugh._

" _I predict you'll probably throw up after you Apparate back to Rochester," Amelia said with a smile as she turned into the alley they used to Apparate in._

" _I don't think so," Jay said. "I've gotten used to Apparating by now."_

_Amelia smiled and shook her head. "Of course you have," she said. "Well, I should get going. I'll see you both soon."_

" _Goodbye, Amelia," Minerva and Jay said with a smile._

_She pulled out her wand and Apparated back home. Minerva pulled out her own wand and held her hand out for Jay. Jay took her hand and off they went. They appeared outside the gate of Collins Mansion and Minerva gave him a minute as he did his best not to throw up. He leaned on the wall while she punched in the keycode._

" _I'm fine," he said._

" _I didn't say anything," she said, looking over at him with a smile._

" _I saw the look you gave me," he said, pushing himself off the wall as the gate began to open. He put an arm around Minerva, partly because he loved holding his wife and partly because he needed the support._

_Minerva smiled and kissed his cheek before walking in through the gate. "It's okay, love," she said as the gate closed behind them. "Some people never get used to Apparating."_

" _I'm not those people," Jay said. "I've just drank a little too much tonight."_

" _You know, everyone says you're such a nice, go-with-the-flow kind of man," she said with a laugh. "If only they could see you now."_

_He gave her a look and she just smiled at him._

" _Of all the things you could be stubborn about," she said. "You chose this."_

" _I could always be like you and be stubborn about everything," he said with an annoying smile._

" _I'm not that stubborn."_

" _You keep claiming that but evidence is piling up against you," he said with a laugh. She gave him a look but he just smiled. "You know, Lucy's also becoming stubborn like you. When she gets older and becomes more difficult, I'm going to blame you."_

_Minerva rolled her eyes. They made it to the front door and Minerva held her hand out for the keys. Jay handed them over and she unlocked the door. They walked inside and heard the television on in the living room. Christie turned it off and walked into the entrance hall when she heard the door. She smiled at them cheerfully._

" _Hello, Mr. Collins, Mrs. McGonagall," she said. "Did you have a good night?"_

" _Yes, thank you, Christie," Minerva said with a smile as she took off her coat and started putting it away in the closet. She took Jay's coat from him and put it away as well. "I hope the children weren't too much a handful for you."_

" _Oh no, they were perfect," Christie said with a smile. "Well, that is until bedtime. Neither of your children like going to bed very much."_

" _I'm sorry if they were difficult," Jay said, pulling out his wallet and taking out a few bills. "We'll make it up to you."_

" _Oh no, it was fine," Christie said with a smile. "You've already paid me for tonight, Mr. Collins. It's alright, really."_

" _Please, just take it," Jay said with a smile, holding out the money towards her._

_It took some convincing but eventually Christie accepted the tip. She picked up her things, put on her coat and said goodbye as well. Jay closed the door behind her and then he and Minerva walked up the stairs to their own bedroom. Jay changed and got into bed immediately but Minerva couldn't sleep until she checked on the children first._

_Jay grumbled sleepily for her to come to bed but she ignored him and walked towards Daniel's room. She looked inside to find him fast asleep in his bed. The lamp on his bedside table was on, a comic book was open on his chest and his blankets were hanging off the bed. Minerva smiled and quietly moved over to the bed. She picked up the comic book and set it on the bedside table and turned the lamp off. She fixed his blankets and kissed his forehead before leaving the room and heading for Lucy's._

_Lucy was asleep as well. She laid in her crib with her hands clenched tightly up by her head. Minerva smiled and walked over to the crib. She leaned in and kissed Lucy's forehead as well, trying not to wake her up. Lucy shifted slightly and mumbled something about Tula the cat making Minerva smile._

" _Goodnight, my darling," she whispered before heading out of the room and back to her own._

_Jay was snoring when she came back. She smiled and walked over her side of the bed. She got in and curled up beside him. He grumbled something unintelligible in his sleep. Minerva smiled. Like father, like daughter, she supposed. She leaned her head down on his chest and he put an arm around her in his sleep._

* * *

**_Sunday, May 3rd 1998_ **

Minerva jumped slightly at the sound of tapping on the living room window. She looked over at it but saw nothing. With a sigh she forced herself off of the couch she had been sitting on and set down her book. She walked over to the window and opened it. James and Sirius took the Invisibility Cloak off their heads and smiled up at her.

"What is the point of that thing if you're always taking it off to talk to me?" she muttered, looking around to make sure no one was looking. "Raj is here somewhere and Lucy's playing outside, you should be more careful."

"That's what we came to talk to you about," James said. "We were watching her play and she started climbing this tree and now..."

"She's stuck," Sirius said with a laugh. "She can't get down and she doesn't know what to do so she's just sitting there waiting for someone to come out looking for her."

Sirius thought this was hilarious. He kept laughing while Minerva shook her head. James smiled and hit Sirius on the back of the head. "Come on, man," he said. "The kid's stuck and scared. Be a little more sensitive."

"It's just too funny," he said with a laugh.

Minerva rolled her eyes and closed the window. She walked to the kitchen and looked out into the back garden. She saw Lucy sitting up in a far off tree on a very high up branch. She shook her head, walked to the kitchen door, and called up the stairs, "Raj!"

After a moment, she heard a door upstairs open and close. Raj came down the stairs. "Yes?"

"Lucy has managed to get herself stuck in a tree," she said with a sigh, walking back into the kitchen and towards the back door. Raj laughed as he followed after her. She looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Apparently she was climbing up and went much too high," she said. "She hasn't moved in a while. I think she's too scared to climb down."

Raj laughed again and Minerva smiled a little, shaking her head. They walked out into the back garden and Minerva called, "Lucy?"

"Mum! Up here!" Lucy called.

Raj and Minerva walked over to the tree that she was sitting in and looked up at her.

"Hey, Princess," Raj said. "Ah, what you doing up there?"

"I was climbing," Lucy said with a smile. She pointed to a mess of twigs on a branch nearby. "Look, there's a bird's nest over here! Bluejays! They're so cute!"

"That's nice, sweetheart, but it's almost lunchtime so please come down now," Minerva said with a smile.

"Ah... no. I think I'll stay up here a little longer," she replied, smile fading. She avoided Minerva and Raj's gaze by looking over at the birds again.

"Are you stuck?" Raj asked with a laugh.

"No..."

"Lucy," Minerva said, raising her eyebrow at her.

"Getting down is scarier than getting up," she mumbled, looking down and grabbing the tree branch more tightly. "It's so high up!"

"Why don't you start climbing down and if you start to fall I'll catch you," Raj said, walking closer to the tree. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it yourself."

"Um... okay..." Lucy said, though she made no move to start coming down. "You promise you'll catch me?"

"Yes, I promise," Raj said with a smile. "Come on, love."

"Bye bye, birds. I don't think I'm going to come up here again," she said as she started to grab hold of the tree trunk and climb down. Minerva gripped her wand in her pocket tight, just in case she needed to make a quick move. Raj instructed her as she climbed. Lucy made it about halfway before not finding any good places to put her hands and feet. She clung to the tree trunk and cried, "I'm stuck! There nowhere to go!"

"There's a branch just a little bit lower," Raj said. "Just go a little further."

Lucy lowered her right foot again but still didn't feel anything. She hugged the tree tightly and shook her head violently. "No! I'm going to fall!"

"Alright, alright," Raj said, moving forward, reaching up, and grabbing Lucy by the waist. "You can let go now."

Lucy let go and Raj pulled her back away from the tree. He set her down and she smiled up at him. "Yay!" she said, hugging his legs tightly. "Thank you for saving me."

"Of course, love," he said with a laugh. "It wasn't so bad was it?"

Lucy shook her head.

Minerva laughed and shook her head. "Oh, yes, she was not scared at all."

"I wasn't!" Lucy said, running over to her mother.

"Of course not," Minerva said with a smile. She reached down and brushed the dirt and twigs off her clothes. "Alright, how about we all go inside and get some lunch?"

"Okay!" Lucy said. She started running towards the house and looked back at Minerva and Raj. "Oh! Oh! Mum, Uncle Raj, watch this!"

Lucy ran, raised her arms up into the air and did a couple cartwheels around the backyard. Minerva smiled and clapped her hands. "Wow, Lucy. That's great."

"Good job, Lucy," Raj said with a smile.

"Thank you," she said, pushing her hair out of her face now that she was upright again and ran back to them. She grabbed her mother's hand and pulled her towards the house. "Come on, I'm hungry!"

Minerva smiled and walked with her. Raj followed behind them. He teased Lucy about her tree experience and she did her best to defend herself. When they reached the door, Raj opened it and motioned for them to go inside before going in himself and closing the door behind him. They washed up and then sat down in the kitchen to eat lunch.

* * *

**_Friday, May 22nd 1998_ **

"So how are you, Dorcas?" Minerva asked. "I haven't seen you in a really long time."

"Yeah, it's been a while. I was out on a mission for Professor Dumbledore. He had me all the way in Northern Ireland," she said with a sigh, leaning back in her chair in front of Minerva's desk at Hogwarts. "I'm good though. How are you? How's Daniel, Nina, and Lucy?"

"They're good, thank you for asking," Minerva replied. "Daniel is the only one of them that really knows the extent of the war. Nina knows that there is a war going on but she doesn't really know how bad it's gotten and we've kept Lucy completely in the dark about it. Though Amelia has told me that she was starting to get suspicious."

"I see," Dorcas said with a small smile. "I suppose that it's for the best that you don't tell her. It's not really something that a six year old should have to worry about "

Minerva sighed and nodded. "She's finally getting better after losing her father. I don't want to ruin that by tell her about how terrible everything is now."

"Well, it's not completely terrible. Did you hear that some of the French and Italian Aurors arrested twelve Death Eaters last night," Dorcas said.

"I did hear about that," Minerva said with a small smile. "It's progress, I suppose. I fear that the war will not end until we get You-Know-Who, however."

She nodded. "I know," she said. "We still don't know where he's hiding though. Which is why I was in Northern Ireland. Dumbledore thought that he may be hiding up there."

"He sent you alone?" Minerva asked with a frown.

"No, it was me and Remus," Dorcas replied. "We had instructions to just do reconnaissance. Just look, don't disturb."

"What made Albus think that he may be in Ireland?"

"There was a big group of werewolves gathered there for some reason," she explained. "Which is why Remus came along. I couldn't get close enough to the werewolves to find out what was going on. I don't know how they know you're not one of them but they always know."

"I think it's smell," Minerva replied. "They have quite the sense of smell."

"You may be right," she said with a nod. "Well, he wasn't there. The werewolves were gathered because of Fenrir Greyback. They seem to do whatever he says. He's offering them a world where they will no longer have to hide or be looked down upon by other witches and wizards. Remus tried to make some friends and convince them to join our side instead but he didn't have enough time and I refused to leave him alone in a werewolf colony."

"I'm glad," Minerva said with a sigh. "I couldn't imagine Remus alone with them."

"Yeah, I... I just saw how much it was killing him. I - I couldn't let him stay," Dorcas said, looking away.

Minerva gave her a little smile. "You and Remus have been seeing a lot more of each other recently."

Dorcas looked back and raised her eyebrow. "We've been working together."

"That's all you've been doing?"

"I don't know what you're trying to -"

"I know you like him, Dorcas," Minerva said with a smile. "He likes you too so I don't understand what's keeping you two apart."

"You're crazy."

"I'm not. I know there's an unspoken thing between the two of you."

"Nope. No unspoken thing," Dorcas said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Never has been."

"Uh huh," Minerva said. "So the two of you never steal glances at each other during Order meetings or whispering in the corner when it's over or Apparate to my house together."

"Okay, no. No. We do not stealglances. What is this? A romance novel?" Dorcas replied making Minerva smile. "And we weren't whispering in a corner! We were just talking about the war. And we didn't Apparate together. We just happened to show up at the same time. You're reading too far into things. You know who you sound like? You sound like my mother."

Minerva laughed. "So you don't like him?"

"I do like Remus. He is my friend."

"No, but you like him more than just a friend," Minerva said with a knowing smile. "And that's okay, Dorcas."

"There's no unspoken thing, Minerva," Dorcas said, suddenly sounding very sad. "There can't be."

"Why not?" Minerva asked, smile fading.

"Because we are at war."

"That is not a good reason to give up in love, Dorcas. Love is the only thing that will see us through these dark times," Minerva said, giving her a reassuring look.

Dorcas shook her head. "Maybe I like him. Maybe I love him. Maybe I do but maybe... maybe I only think I do. Maybe I think I like him because I'm worried that I might die at any moment and he is my only chance at something like what Lily and James have. Maybe I love him or maybe I just love the idea of him," she whispered. "I will only know for sure if we both survive this. When we get out on the other side and I still have the feelings for him that I do now then I'll know. Then I'll know for sure that I love him the way he deserves to be loved. It is not fair to him if I have doubts."

"You can't let the war interfere with every aspect of your life, Dorcas," she said with a sigh. "You can't let it drag you down. You need something to keep you afloat. James and Lily have each other. I have Lucy, Daniel and Nina. You and Remus have been drowning for a long time. Let yourselves be saved."

"I wish I could, Minerva," she whispered. "I just can't right now. I just can't let myself think about anything other than this war. I need it to end so I need to put every ounce of my being into it to make sure it does."

"Dorcas... you've always been an all or nothing type person but this... this will destroy you if you let it."

"I have to focus on the war, Minerva," Dorcas said quietly, looking down at her hands. "If I don't I will forever wonder if there was more I could do. If someone dies while I'm off snogging Remus, I will never forgive myself. If I don't give a hundred percent and we lose..."

"It wouldn't be your fault," Minerva said firmly. "These things are not always in our control."

She doesn't respond.

"Dorcas..."

She finally looked up and gave her old teacher a little smile. "I'll be okay," she said, reassuringly. "Besides, I've made quite the name for myself among the Death Eaters. It's not safe for anyone to be associated with me."

Minerva gave her a small smile. "You'll always find an excuse won't you," she said. Dorcas doesn't respond. She just rubbed the tears out of her eyes and smiled. Minerva shook her head. "I heard that you singlehandedly arrested five Death Eaters last week."

"I'm just doing my part."

"You're doing more than your fair share, dear," Minerva said. "Way more."

"I'm just doing my part."

Minerva sighed and shook her head. "Albus said that he asked you to stay at Hogwarts from now on."

"There was a little bit of a scare the other day but I'll be fine. There's no need to worry."

"A little bit of a scare?" Minerva asked exasperatedly. "They found your flat, Dorcas. What if you had been asleep when they showed up? Move to Hogwarts, please. How will you do your part if you're not taking care of yourself first?"

"I -"

"Dorcas, please," Minerva said. "After what happened to Mary, I don't want the same to happen to you."

Dorcas sighed and nodded. "Alright. I'll stay at Hogwarts."

"Excellent," Minerva replied with a small smile. "Remus is also staying at Hogwarts."

"Oh God," Dorcas mumbled with a shake of her head. "My mother has returned."

Minerva laughed and shook her head.

...

Minerva sighed and flopped down on the couch beside Lucy. She pulled Lucy closer and hugged her tightly. Lucy squirmed and laughed.

"What's wrong? Can't I hug my daughter after a long day?"

She sighed. "Fine, if you must."

Minerva laughed and shook her head.

"Just don't cover my eyes. I want to be able to see the TV."

Minerva sighed and pulled her closer. Lucy rested her head on Minerva's chest and watched the television program she had put on. Minerva had her arms around her and leaned down to give her a kiss on the head.

"Daniel and Nina go out a lot," Lucy mumbled.

"Well, they don't have school anymore so they can go out whenever they want," Minerva said with a smile.

"I wish I didn't have school and I could go out whenever I wanted."

"Where would you go?"

Lucy shrugged. "Wherever I wanted! On so many adventures."

Minerva smiled and gave her a little squeeze. "Well you'll be able to do that when you're older."

Lucy made a face and Minerva laughed.

"Daniel and Nina also didn't get to go out a lot when they first got together," Minerva said. "So now that they can, Daniel wants to take her everywhere he never got to before."

"Yeah because of me," Lucy mumbled.

"What?"

"They didn't get to go anywhere because Daniel had to come home and pick me up from school or dance and take care of me," Lucy muttered, not looking up at her mother. "That's why they didn't get to go out on dates."

"It's not your fault, darling," Minerva said, running her fingers through Lucy's hair. "It's no one's fault."

Lucy didn't respond. Minerva looked down but she was just staring at the television. Minerva sighed and kissed her again. Lucy made a face and Minerva laughed.

Just then Raj came into the living room carrying two tea cups. He smiled at them and held a cup out to Minerva. She took it and thanked him and he sat down on an armchair.

"Nina's friends are coming over tomorrow," Lucy muttered.

"I know," Raj said with a smile. "Why do you think I'm leaving so early."

"You're lucky you just get to leave," Lucy said with a sigh.

"What's wrong with Nina's friends?" Minerva asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing, of course," Raj said quickly. "They're just..."

"Loud," Lucy said.

"Yes, very loud." Raj said with a nod.

Minerva smiled.

"They call me cute and hug me and kiss my cheeks," Lucy muttered, shaking her head. Minerva laughed. "That's why Uncle Raj is running away."

"I'm not running away," Raj said.

"It seems like you are," Minerva said with a laugh.

"No, I just thought that Nina and her friends would like a little bit of privacy," Raj said. "So I will be elsewhere and they can have the house."

"Daniel's running away too," Lucy said. "He's going to hang out with Michael. He doesn't like being here when all of Nina's friends get together." She added in a whisper, "They're crazy."

Minerva laughed. "So should we run away too?"

"Yeah!" Lucy said.

"Where will you go?" Raj asked.

"Where would you like to go, Lucy?" Minerva asked.

"Hmm... I don't know," Lucy said. "Maybe we can go to the park?"

"We can do that but that won't really be running away for very long would it?" Minerva said.

"Nina is making a nice dinner for herself and her friends as well," Raj said. "You might want to be here for that at least."

"I do like food..." Lucy said, weighing her options.

Minerva and Raj laughed. They watched television for a while until Minerva looked over at the clock and saw that it was way past Lucy's bedtime.

"Okay, sweetheart," she said. "It's time for bed."

"Just one more episode," Lucy whined. "Please."

"No, I think that's enough TV for one night. You have already stayed up much too late," Minerva replied.

"But -"

"No, Lucy," Minerva said sternly.

"You better listen to her, Princess," Raj said with a smile as he leaned back in his chair. "She's using her teacher voice."

Minerva gave him a pointed look and he just smiled innocently at her. Lucy was still not happy. She was about to protest again when the doorbell rang. Lucy jumped to her feet quickly and ran towards the door excitedly.

"I'll get it! I'll get it!"

Minerva sighed and shook her head as she got up. Raj got up too and followed her towards the door. They didn't really want Lucy answering the door this late at night but by the time they reached the entrance Lucy unlocked and opened it.

"Lucy -"

Lucy flung the door open and there stood Amelia Bones. Lucy smiled. "Aunty Amelia! Hi, we were - what's wrong?"

"Oh, h-hello Lucy," Amelia said. She looked up at Minerva who saw the tears sliding down her face. "I'm very s-sorry for - for... I'm sorry. I just... didn't know where else to - to go."

"Amelia, come in. Come in," Minerva said quickly. She walked in front of Lucy and pushed her back a little.

Lucy looked at Raj who was looking at Amelia with concern. Amelia walked into the house and Minerva closed the door and put an arm around her. Lucy looked up at her aunt with a scared expression on her face.

"Are - are you okay?"

"I'm - I'm fine, love," Amelia said, giving her the saddest smile Lucy had ever seen. "Don't worry about me. Just - just listen to your mother."

"Uncle Raj -"

"Let's go, love," Raj said, picking Lucy up into his arms. He looked at Minerva. "You guys can go talk in the office again."

Minerva nodded and led Amelia away. Lucy watched them go. She didn't know what to do. Why was Amelia crying? What happened? Why couldn't she know?

"What happened?" Lucy asked. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, love," he said as he walked towards the room. "I'm sure everything will be fine. We just need to give Amelia some time to calm down."

Lucy sighed and looked back over Raj's shoulder down the stairs. Why was everyone treating her like a baby? Why couldn't she know what was going on? She wanted to help too! She wanted to help Amelia feel better but she couldn't do that if they kept shutting her out.

Raj took Lucy to her bedroom. He helped her into bed but Lucy refused to lay down. She was going to wait until Minerva came up to ask her what happened. She was sure that Minerva wasn't going to give her a straight answer but she could still try. Raj sighed and told her that she could wait. He was sure she would just fall asleep anyways. He said goodnight and walked out of the room before heading back downstairs.

...

Minerva led Amelia to a chair and helped her sit down. She conjured up a glass of water and gave it to her. She put a hand on Amelia's back and rubbed small circles as she sipped the water.

"It'll be okay, Amelia. Just tell me what happened," Minerva said soothingly.

"Oh, Minerva... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have - have come here," Amelia said through her tears. "I just... I had no - nowhere else to go."

"It's okay. It's okay," Minerva said quietly. "You're always welcome here."

Amelia took one of Minerva's hands in both of hers and took a couple deep breaths. "Edgar... he - they..."

"Oh, Amelia," Minerva whispered, pulling her close.

"They found him... I don't know how..." she mumbled. "We - all the protections... Nobody knew... Only the Order... It was supposed to be safe... A safe house."

Minerva felt tears fall down her own cheeks. She kept rubbing Amelia's back as she sobbed and covered her face again.

"All of them..." Amelia whispered between sobs. "Edgar... Karen... the - the children!"

She sobbed harder. Minerva sighed and put a hand on the back of her head. She wished she knew what to say or do to make it all better but nothing could bring them back. Nothing was could turn back the clocks.

"Sirina was only - only three," Amelia cried. "And David... David was only two! Evan was a year old and Karen was pregnant! They killed them all! All of them! They were babies! Babies!"

Amelia was getting angry now. She pulled away from Minerva roughly and stood up. She pulled out her wand. "I'll kill them! I'll kill them all!"

"Amelia, stop -"

"THEY'VE TAKEN SO MUCH FROM ME!" She screamed, making Minerva grateful for the muffling charm she had placed on the room. "I WANT THEM TO HURT THE WAY I AM! MY MOTHER, MY FATHER, MY GRANDPARENTS AND NOW MY BROTHER, SISTER-IN-LAW, AND NIECES AND NEPHEWS! I HAVE LOST SO MUCH AT THEIR HANDS! I WILL FIND THEM AND I WILL KILL THEM! I WILL FIND  _HIM_!" She flicked her wand but nothing happened. "WHY CAN'T I APPARATE?! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING!?"

"Amelia, stop," Minerva said, standing up and walking towards her.

Amelia pointed her wand at her. "Don't touch me!"

Minerva put her hands up. "I know that there's nothing I can say that will make this pain go away. I know that you are hurting but hurting them won't make you feel better."

"You don't understand! You've haven't lost anyone to them! Jay was killed in a hospital! They were taken too soon!"

Minerva dropped her hands to her sides. "I know what you're doing and I'm not taking your bait. We are not going to duel right now."

Amelia glared at her but dropped her wand. She turned away from Minerva and took a few deep breaths.

"Amelia," Minerva said quietly. "Listen. I know you're hurting. I know that and I understand. We will win this fight. I promise you, we will. We will not let those who died, die in vain. We will make a world that they would have been proud of. We will."

Amelia fell to her knees. "Three..." she whispered, putting her head in her hands. "I'm down to three nieces and nephews."

Minerva walked over to her and sat down next to her. She put an arm around her and whispered, "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We are going to fix you up some tea, get you into a nice warm bed, and then you will stay here for a couple days."

"I - I can't... I have to go to work... and I have to -"

"No you don't. You are going to be a normal Ministry worker who takes weekends off," Minerva replied. "You'll stay here for a few days and then you can go back to work on Monday if you're feeling up to it. Until then we will stay in this house, play with Lucy, and forget about the war for a little while. Okay?"

There was silence for a long time before Amelia finally nodded, her head still in her hands. Minerva got up and helped her too her feet. She led her out of the office and towards the kitchen. Raj was there too. He looked up.

"Oh, should I go?" he asked as Minerva helped Amelia sit down at the table and moved over to the kitchen to make tea.

"N-no, th-that's okay," Amelia said with a shake of her head. She didn't look at him. She put her arms on the table and her head on her arms. She felt like such an idiot. She was intruding in their house, scaring the kids. She shouldn't have come here.

Raj looked at Minerva and she sighed and shook her head. She walked over to kettle and whispered, "her brother. His whole family. They're dead."

"Oh - oh my god," Raj said with wide eyes. "Steven or Edgar?"

"Edgar," she said. "I'm making more tea. Would you like some?"

Raj shook his head. He opened the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of whisky and two glass. "This is better than tea," he said, walking over towards the table. He set the glasses down on the table, making Amelia look up. Raj opened the bottle and started pouring it into the glasses. "Leave the tea. Bring a glass for yourself, Minerva."

Minerva looked at him for a second. She was about to protest when Amelia grabbed her glass and downed the contents. She set it down and motioned for Raj to pour her some more. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow but she just pushed her glass closer to him. He poured more whisky into the glass. Minerva sighed, picked up her own glass and walked over to the table. She set it down and Raj pours her a drink too. He and Minerva sat down and Amelia leaned back in her chair.

"I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize," Raj said. "You have nothing to apologize for. When stuff like this happens you get to do whatever it is you need to do."

"I worry I may have scared Lucy," Amelia said with a sigh.

"She'll be fine," Minerva said. "Don't worry."

They sat in silence for a while and suddenly Amelia felt a wave of deja vu. She had been here before. She had sat with a drink in hand with these people after a death before. A little while after her parents and grandparents were killed. They had brought her out to cheer her up. She had sat here drinking with these people at least once every month for almost eight years of her life. She had missed this a lot these last two years. She looked at the empty seat at the table and sighed. There was just one thing missing and it would be exactly the same.

"When he died," Amelia said, looking up at Raj. "What did you do?"

"What did I do?" Raj asked.

Amelia nodded.

"This, I suppose," he said, leaning back in his chair too and taking a sip of his drink. "Put the kids to bed and drank."

They kept drinking, talking quietly every so often but mostly sitting in silence. Minerva looked down at her glass and sighed. This was another perfect opportunity to tell Raj about the war yet for some reason she still couldn't make herself do it.

Finally they got up and Minerva helped Amelia up the stairs. Raj stayed down to clean up before he would also come up and go to his own bedroom. Lucy heard the steps creak and quickly got off her bed. She ran towards the door and opened it just a crack. She saw her mother walking Amelia towards an empty bedroom. She waiting for a long time before Minerva walked back out of the room again and started towards her own room.

"Mommy," Lucy whispered, looking up at her mother with a frightened look on her face. Minerva looked over at her and sighed. She walked towards the bedroom and Lucy opened the door wider. Minerva leaned down and pulled her into a hug. Lucy wrapped her arms around Minerva's neck and whispered, "Is Aunty Amelia okay?"

"Yes, darling. Your Aunty Amelia will be okay," she said, picking her up into her arms and walking towards the bed. "Don't worry, my darling."

"What - what happened? Why was she crying? Did - did... is everything okay?" Lucy asked a little frantically. "I - I'm a little... a little scared."

Minerva sighed and put Lucy down in the bed. She kneeled down beside it and put a hand on Lucy's cheek. "It's okay, my love. It's just... well... Amelia's lost someone too now and so she's not feeling very well."

"Like... like when Daddy died."

Minerva nodded a little and combed Lucy's hair out of her face. "Yes, my love. You see, her brother and his family... they - they were in an accident. She's very sad but she'll be okay. Just like we're starting to be okay now."

Tears filled Lucy's eyes. "I - I cried a lot when Daddy died," she whispered, taking Minerva's hand in both of hers. "And I... I said some - some really... bad things."

"Oh, darling, it's okay. You know, a lot of people get angry when they're hurting," she whispered, moving to sit down on the bed beside Lucy. Lucy hugged her and buried her face in Minerva's side. Minerva wrapped her arms around her daughter and kissed her forehead. "It's okay, love. Sometimes these things happen but we have to be strong and keep going. That's the only way we can make the one's we lost proud. They would want us to keep out heads up, my love."

"Mommy?"

"Yes, my love?"

"Will you stay with me just - just for tonight?"

"Of course, my love," Minerva whispered. She helped Lucy lay back in bed and put the blanket over her. "I just have to go get changed and then I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," Lucy whispered.

Minerva got up and sighed. She walked back to her own bedroom. As she changed into her pajamas she thought about Edgar and Karen Bones. She sighed and shook her head. How did they know? How did they find the Bones's safe house and what did that mean for everyone else's safe house? Was there really a leak in the Order? Who could possibly be a turncoat? They had done so many internal investigations, they had taken so many precautions, they had done everything right. Hadn't they?

Minerva walked back into Lucy's bedroom, closed the door and turned off the lights. She got into bed and Lucy immediately curled up beside her, leaning her head on Minerva's arm. Minerva kissed her forehead and told her goodnight. Lucy fell asleep quite quickly. Minerva listened to her rhythmic breathing and sighed again. She was finally getting better. She had stopped having nightmares and had started sleeping on her own again. She wished that Lucy had been in bed when Amelia had arrived. She wished Lucy hadn't seen Amelia that way. Amelia was a strong, confident woman so to see her in such a state was definitely a shock to anyone who had seen her before. To see her in such a state just affirmed Lucy's ideas that something was very, very wrong and Minerva had done everything she could to stop those ideas. She didn't want Lucy to worry about these things.

...

Minerva knocked on Amelia's bedroom door the next morning and heard her voice inviting her in. She opened the door to see Amelia standing by the bed, looking out the window.

"How are you feeling?" Minerva asked as she walks into the room.

Amelia gave her a small smile. "I'm fine," she said before looking back out of the window and avoiding Minerva's gaze. "I'm very sorry, Minerva. I was such a mess last night."

"It's alright. I understand," Minerva said with a small smile.

"I hope I didn't scare Lucy too much."

"She will be fine," Minerva replied with a small smile. "She was worried about you though. She wanted to make sure that you were okay."

"She is a good kid," she said with a sigh. She finally turned back to look at Minerva. "Well, I should get going. I've already put you out enough."

"No, no," Minerva said, walking over to her. "You're staying here and getting away from the war for a little while, remember? Here, I brought you some clothes and a toothbrush." She shoved the pile of clothes in Amelia's hands and put a packaged toothbrush on top of it. "Breakfast is in five minutes and I expect to see you there."

"Minerva -"

Before Amelia could protest, she saw a little head poke out in the doorway behind Minerva. She gave her a little smile and put the things Minerva had given her down on the bed. "Hello, Lucy."

Minerva turned around to see Lucy all dressed and ready for the day walk into the room looking a little frightened. Minerva gave her a smile as she watched her walk over to Amelia and take her hand.

"Aunty Amelia, are you okay?" she asked in a small voice.

Amelia smiled and kneeled down in front of her. "Yes, love. I'm okay."

Lucy smiled a little. "That's good," she said. "Sometimes when I'm sad Mum or Nina will hug me to make me feel better. Do you want a hug?"

"Sure," Amelia said with a smile. She opened her arms up and Lucy hugged her.

When they pull away, Amelia straightened up and picked the clothes back up. "Well, I guess I should get ready for the day too."

Minerva smiled. She held her hand out for Lucy. "Come on, darling. Let's let Aunty Amelia get changed and ready. We can go get some breakfast."

Lucy nodded and took her mother's hand. They walk out of the room and Minerva closed the door behind her. Amelia stared at the door for a second before moving to get ready for the day. When she was all ready, she walked down to the kitchen where everyone was sitting eating breakfast. Nina smiled at her and got up so Amelia could sit in her chair.

Amelia learned that Daniel and Raj were running away today because Nina's friends were coming over. Amelia smiled as she listened to Daniel try to justify to Nina why he didn't want to hang out with her and her friends.

"It's not that I don't like them, I just -"

"Don't want to be here when they're here?" Nina asked with a raised eyebrow. "They are great people."

"They are! I love all of them," Daniel said quickly. "I just don't like them when they're all together. Sixteen people, Nina! That's insane!"

"Sixteen?" Amelia asked. "Are you having a party?"

"A dinner party, yes," Nina said. "Just to celebrate the end of our first year. This is the first time we're all free at the same time in a long time."

"I think it sounds lovely," Raj said, "and I don't want to get in the way of you girls having your fun so I will leave you be. I have some work in London anyways."

"Don't think I don't know that you're actually running away too, Uncle Raj," Nina said, giving him a look.

"Nina, how dare you suggest such a thing. I would never," Raj said, putting his hand over his heart in mock hurt.

Lucy laughed and Nina shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, go, but I'm not saving any dinner for either of you," Nina said.

"Will you be coming back home tonight, Raj?" Minerva asked.

"No, I'll be back Monday," Raj said. "I think you guys will be okay without me for one day."

"Oh no, how could we ever survive?" Minerva said with a smile.

Raj smiled. "I know it will be difficult but I'm sure you'll be okay, Minerva," he said. "If you need help, Lucy can always help you. I always put her in charge when I leave."

"I'm in charge?" Lucy asked with a smile.

"Of course," Raj said.

"Do you want the house to burn down while you're gone?" Daniel asked. "Lucy can't be in charge!"

"Yes, I can!" Lucy said.

They laughed. They talked some more and then cleaned up breakfast. They hung out in the living room for a while, playing games and watching television. Then they had lunch. A little while afterwards, Daniel and Raj headed out and Nina started preparing for her friends to arrive. Minerva helped her in the kitchen with magic while Amelia and Lucy sat at the table and kept them company.

"And then I got stuck and I couldn't come down," Lucy said, telling her aunt about getting stuck in a tree last week. "And Uncle Raj had to come get me down."

Amelia smiled. "Well, at least you got to see the bluejays, right?"

"Yeah, they were cute. They were just babies!" Lucy said happily. "I went back to look at them again but they're not there anymore. The nest is still there but the birds are gone."

"Oh, they must have flown away," Amelia said.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know," she said.

"I hope they do," Lucy said. "When Nina's friends come over, Mum said that we can go to the park! Are you going to come with us?"

"If you want me to."

Lucy nodded vigorously. "You can see me do the monkey bars!" she said. "I'm pretty good at them now! I can do it forwards and backwards and can climb on top and swing upside down too!"

"Wow," Amelia said with a smile. "Well, I can't wait to see."

Lucy smiled. They talked for a while longer until Nina and Minerva were done in the kitchen. Nina's friends began arriving and they were all lovely. They did hug and kiss Lucy, fawning over her like a baby, but other than that Minerva couldn't see what Daniel and Raj had against them. That was until she heard them all sitting in the living room together. To say they were loud would be an understatement. They talked and laugh at a decibel that Minerva didn't think she would be able to reach screaming. They spoke mostly in Hindi, very fast, dipping into English every now and then.

"What are they saying?" Amelia asked. She, Minerva and Lucy were sitting in kitchen.

"They're talking about how big the house is and how well Nina has done for herself," Lucy said.

Minerva smiled and shook her head.

Soon they left for the park, leaving the noisy house behind. Lucy excitedly ran ahead while Minerva and Amelia walked behind her.

"It's a nice day," Minerva said.

"Hmm... yes," Amelia said a little absentmindedly.

Minerva looked over and gave her a little smile. "You know, you don't have to go back to work on Monday," she said. "If you're not feeling up to it, you can take some time off and stay here for a while or with Steven and Poppy or Emmeline."

"No, I'll go back tomorrow."

"No, you won't. I'm not letting you do that."

Amelia gave her a look. "And how do you plan to stop me?"

"The same way I did today," Minerva said with a smile. "Apparently you listen to Lucy better than you listen to me."

"She's much more persuasive," Amelia said with a small smile. "You are right though. Rochester is like a private little world untouched by the war. It's nice being here, getting away from it all for a while."

She nodded. "It's the only thing keeping me going."

They made it to the park and watched Lucy play. She showed them all her monkey bar tricks and had Amelia push her on the swings. Some of Lucy's friends came by and she played with them while Amelia and Minerva sat down on a bench and talked.

Eventually it was time to go home. They went back to Collins Mansion, Lucy running around excitedly telling them about her day, and had dinner in the kitchen while Nina and her friends ate in the dining room.

Amelia felt a little bit better eating with Minerva and Lucy. It was nice to leave the war behind even if it was for just one weekend. She had been letting it consume her day in day out for so long and now finally she had a little bit of peace. Maybe she should come back here more often.


	12. Daniel's Annoying Shopping Trip

**_March 1992_ **

_Minerva picked Lucy up from her crib after her nap and walked over to the changing table to change her clothes and diaper. After that she put on the baby's coat, slippers, and hat. Lucy squirmed around a lot as Minerva tried to get her things on. "Ready to go see Daddy?"_

_Minerva picked Lucy up off the table and walked down to the front door. She pulled the stroller out of the closet and unfolded it before laying Lucy down inside. She put on her own coat and shoes too before pulling out her wand, grabbing the stroller and Apparating the two of them to London. They reappeared in an alleyway near one of Jay's favourite restaurants. Minerva pushed the stroller in front of her as she walked out of the alleyway and onto the busy London sidewalks. Lucy babbled and pointed at things as they walked._

_They made it to the restaurant and went inside. People were sitting inside chatting amongst themselves as they ate their lunches. Minerva walked over to the counter and ordered food to go for herself and Jay. The waitress told her that it would be a few minutes and she joined the others waiting for their own lunch. Lucy babbled loudly, attracting the attention of some of the other patrons. Some of them talked to her and Minerva, asking the baby's name and age. Minerva made polite small talk though she really just wanted to get her food and go._

_Lucy was starting to get cranky so Minerva pulled out one of her toys to keep her busy. She handed it to her and it kept her attention for a little while before she got bored and threw the rattle away. It hit the leg of a young man nearby. He had blond hair and an almost cocky looking face. He looked up, leaned down and grabbed the rattle._

" _I'm so sorry," Minerva said, taking the rattle back from him._

" _That's quite alright," he said with a smile that didn't really reach his eyes. He looked into the stroller. "Cute baby. Are you babysitting?"_

" _Babysitting? No," Minerva said with a frown. "This is my daughter."_

" _Oh, I'm sorry," he said, smile fading. "Where did you adopt her from?"_

" _She is not adopted," Minerva said, unconsciously pulling the sunshield on the stroller down a little more to block Lucy from this man. "She is my biological daughter."_

" _Oh..." he said. "Are you married?"_

" _I am."_

" _And she's your husband's daughter?"_

" _She is."_

" _Where's your husband from?"_

" _He was born here in London," Minerva said, glaring at this man._

" _Where were his parents from then?"_

" _They were from India."_

" _Oh, so your daughter is half Indian. Weird," the man said. "Never seen that before."_

" _It's not_ _weird_ _," Minerva said angrily._

" _Sorry I didn't mean to make you upset," he said quickly. "I think it's cool that your daughter is mixed. I just never really seen that before. Mixed babies aren't that common here in England, I don't think."_

_Minerva didn't want to talk to this man anymore. She heard her number called and pushed the stroller over to the counter to grab her order. She sent one last glare at the man before walking out of the restaurant and walking towards Jay's work. Lucy was babbling again and Minerva lifted the shield a bit and gave her a smile._

" _God, am I happy you can't understand people like that yet," she said with a shake of her head. "We'll be with Daddy soon, my love."_

_It was about a ten minute walk from the restaurant to Jay's office and Minerva was angry the whole way. She did her best not to show it and smiled down at Lucy whenever she babbled or giggled. The fussy baby was no longer being fussy so that did helped. She made it to the building and went inside._

_The girls at the front desk greeted her happily and cooed at Lucy when they walked up. Minerva was glad to be here with warm people who did not make stupid comments or hold idiotic ideologies. After a short conversation with the women at the front desk, Minerva pushed the stroller towards the elevator._

" _Minerva!"_

_She turned to see Raj running towards her. Minerva gave him a smile. "Hello, Raj," she said. "How are you?"_

" _Good, good," Raj said, walking over. "Allow me." He took the stroller for her and pushed it towards the elevator. Minerva followed him. "And how is my little princess today?" He tickled Lucy's nose, making she giggled and grab his finger. He smiled and looked up at Minerva. "So, how are you, Minerva?"_

" _I'm... not great, actually," she said with a sigh._

" _Oh, really?" he said, smile fading and being replaced by a frown. "What's wrong?"_

_She pushed the elevator button and sighed again. "Just some idiot at the restaurant I went to grab lunch from," she said, crossing her arms. She looked down at Lucy and gave her a small smile. "He was not very nice, was he darling?"_

" _What happened?" Raj asked with a frown as the elevator doors opened. He and Minerva walked inside and he looked over at her._

_Minerva shook her head. "Just an idiot," she said. "Asked me if I was babysitting and then if Lucy was adopted."_

_Raj sighed. "What was his name?"_

" _Don't know," she said. "Never gave me his name."_

" _I'm sorry that happened to you," he said. "Some people are just stupid." He reached into the stroller and picked Lucy up, tossing her up and down a little. "I mean, look at this beautiful little girl. She looks just as beautiful as her mother."_

_Minerva smiled a little and shook her head. "Again, Raj, you flatter me," she said. She held up her hand. "Unfortunately I'm taken."_

_Raj laughed. "Of course," he said. "A shame."_

_He held Lucy up in his arms and motioned for Minerva to go when the doors opened. She walked through the doors and he pushed the stroller out after her. She led the way down to Jay's office and he followed._

" _Hello, Maria," Minerva said with a smile._

_Maria, Jay's assistant, looked up and smiled. She was tall, thin young woman with brown hair tied up in a stylish bun and brown eyes. She wore red blush and black eyeliner but looked very natural despite it. She was wearing a pencil skirt and matching blazer. She always had a very happy and bright aura around her. Everything Maria did was always done wholeheartedly with a huge genuine smile. Minerva thought that you could mug this girl and she would hand over her money with a smile on her face while complementing your mugging skills._

" _Mrs. McGonagall! It's good to see you again," Maria said happily as Minerva and Raj walked over to the desk. "Did you have a good weekend?"_

" _It was alright," Minerva said, taking Lucy from Raj. "How was yours?"_

" _Oh, can't complain," she said with a smile. She walked around the desk and cooed at Lucy. "Hello, little Miss Collins! How are you doing?"_

_Minerva smiled and handed Lucy to Maria. She looked at Raj and gave him a smile. "Will you be joining me, Jay, and Lucy for lunch, Raj?"_

" _You know I would love to but, I, unfortunately, have a lunch meeting," he said with a sigh. "So, this is where I will leave you. Lunch smells good by the way."_

" _Thank you," Minerva said with a smile, taking the stroller from him. "Have a nice rest of the day."_

_Raj gave a little salute before saying goodbye to Maria and Lucy as well and heading back to his office. Minerva took Lucy back from Maria and smiled._

" _Is Jay in?" she asked._

" _He's at a meeting but he should be here soon," she said, walking back around her desk and sitting back down._

_Minerva pulled up a chair from a desk nearby and sat down in front of her. "So, how are you Maria?"_

" _I'm good, thank you for asking," she said. "Mr. Collins been really busy lately. Lots of meetings. Each meeting comes with files and documents that I have to go through, sort and file away so that's very fun."_

" _I'm sorry my husband's been working you so hard," Minerva said with a smile._

" _No, it's not a problem," she said with a laugh. "I like the work. Certainly beats sitting here and doing nothing all day. I've had jobs like that and I must say I much prefer being on my feet, actually doing things."_

" _How old were you when you got this job?" Minerva asked._

" _Seven years ago now, I believe, so eighteen," Maria said. "I was actually really surprised I got the job. I was the youngest applicant and I honestly only applied because at that point I just needed a job anywhere. I applied for a lot of jobs that I was very unqualified for. For some reason Mr. Collins liked me and hired me."_

_Minerva smiled. "Well, I can definitely see what he saw," she said. "You're a great addition to the Collins Enterprises team. I expect Jay will try to keep you around for as long as he can. He's always raving about you."_

_Maria smiled and her cheeks went a little more red. "I really appreciate that, Mrs. McGonagall, " she said. "I hope to stay on for a long time. I really do love this job and, not to toot my own horn or anything but, I think I'm really good at it."_

" _You are," Minerva said with a smile._

" _I love working with Mr. Collins and Mr. Patil," she said. "And then you, Daniel, and Lucy are just an added bonus."_

" _You do too much for us, Maria," Minerva said with a smile. "You spoil us."_

_Maria laughed. "I do what I can," she said. "It's really no trouble."_

" _Will you be taking your lunch break soon?" she asked._

" _I will as soon as Mr. Collins returns from his meeting," Maria replied. "How was your day? Did I ask that already?"_

_Minerva smiled. "No, it was alright," she said. "Until I went to the Anthony's to get lunch for myself and Jay. A young man asked me if Lucy was adopted."_

" _That's horrible!" Maria said. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."_

_Minerva waved her hand dismissively. "It's not your fault," she said, putting a hand on Lucy's stomach and fixing her shirt. "I knew that things like this would happen every now and again. I'm just glad Lucy's not old enough to understand what that means yet."_

" _It's still horrible," Maria said sadly. "I think that - oh, hello, Mr. Collins."_

" _Hello," Jay said cheerfully, walking towards the desk. "Hello, my love."_

_He leaned down and gave Minerva a kiss. Minerva smiled. "Hello, darling," she said. "How was your meeting?"_

" _It went well," Jay said, setting his files on Maria's desk before reaching down and taking Lucy from Minerva. He bounced her up and down and she giggled. He kissed her cheek. "Hello, my beautiful darling! Aren't you happy to see me?"_

_Minerva smiled as he played with Lucy and made her laugh more. Lucy did seem very happy to see her father. She was always very happy to see him. Minerva thought the baby enjoyed these lunch visits just as much as she did._

" _So, what were the two of you talking about before I rudely interrupted?" Jay asked, holding Lucy properly now and looking between Maria and Minerva._

" _Oh, it was nothing," Minerva said._

" _Some guy in Anthony's Diner asked Minerva if Lucy was adopted," Maria said. Minerva gave her a look and her eyes widened. "Sorry, was I not supposed to say anything?"_

" _A man asked you if Lucy was adopted?" Jay asked with a frown._

" _It's nothing for you to worry about, darling. We're fine," Minerva said, getting up and grabbing Lucy's stroller. "Maria, you should really take your lunch break as well. I can hear your stomach growling."_

" _I will, thank you, Mrs. McGonagall," Maria said, standing up and getting the door for Minerva. "Have a good lunch."_

" _Thank you, Maria," Minerva said as she walked in with the stroller._

" _Yes, thank you," Jay said as he walked through with Lucy still in his arms. Maria closed the door behind them and they walked over to Jay's desk. He pulled a chair over to sit down while Minerva took his seat. "So, are you going to tell me what happened?"_

" _Not much to tell. He asked me if I was babysitting, I said no. He asked me if she was adopted, I said no," Minerva said as she pulled out the food she had bought for them. She pushed Jay's takeout box and fork towards him before opening her own. "Then he asked me if she was my husband's child too and I said yes."_

" _Wow," Jay said. "He sounds like an -"_

" _May I remind you that you are holding a baby," Minerva said with a small smile._

" _A very not nice person," Jay finished. "I wasn't going to say anything bad."_

" _Wow, a very not nice person?" Minerva said with a laugh. "You watch your mouth, Jay Collins."_

" _I'm so sorry," Jay said with a laugh. He looked down at Lucy and bounced her up and down. "You know you're not adopted, right love? We were so happy when we found out you were coming and you were very hard on your mother. She went through a lot so no one could ever say you were adopted."_

_Minerva smiled and shook her head._

_Lucy gurgled in response making Jay laugh. He unzipped her coat and took it off her, putting it down on his desk, before sitting her down in his lap and looking at his food. "This looks great," he said. "Thank you for bringing lunch, even if it was quite an adventure."_

" _Of course," Minerva said, picking up her diaper bag from under the stroller seat and pulling out a bottle for Lucy as well. She held it out and he took it from her, shifting Lucy in his lap and giving her the bottle. "So anyways, how's your day been so far, darling?"_

" _It's been alright," he replied with a mouth full of food. "Lots of meetings, reports to go through, budget things. Oh, tomorrow I have a lunch meeting so I won't be able to do lunch with you two unfortunately."_

_Minerva nodded. "That's alright," she said. "We'll find something to entertain us if we must spend the whole day without you."_

" _A travesty, I know."_

_Minerva smiled. "Very much so," she said. "But we'll manage, I'm sure. Though, these lunches are my only chance at real adult conversation."_

" _Didn't you talk to your mother and Amelia on the phone yesterday?" Jay asked with a smile._

" _Yes but no one but Mother comes to visit me anymore," she said with a sigh. "I get lonely home all alone you know."_

" _I'm so sorry, love," Jay said. "Everyone is very busy with everything going on in the Wizarding World right now."_

" _I know," Minerva said with a sigh. "Another one of Riddle's rallies ended in a riot last week. Which is why we haven't seen Amelia in so long. She's been very busy dealing with these idiots."_

_Jay sighed. "We shouldn't talk about this in front of the baby," he said, looking down at Lucy. "I feel like she can understand more than we give her credit for."_

_Minerva smiled. "I'm sure she does."_

* * *

**_Tuesday, June 9th_ ** **_1998_ **

Minerva was in her bedroom doing some cleaning and reorganising. She had taken all the clothes out of the closet and sorted them into piles of which to keep and which to donate. Lucy was laying on her bed humming as she read one of her mother's books.

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"What is  _lycanthropy_?" Lucy said. "It talks about it here but it doesn't say what it is."

"Lycanthropy is a condition that some people have where they transform into a wolf every full moon," Minerva explained, looking over at the bed.

"Oh! Like a werewolf," Lucy said.

"Yes."

"That's cool," she said. "Have you seen Teen Wolf? Is it like that?"

"Um, no, but it is not a fun illness, Lucy," Minerva said, walking over to the bed as clothes moved around on their own behind her. "It is a very hard thing to live with. When a werewolf transforms he can be quite dangerous. They don't keep their mind when they transform like an Animagus does so they can't control what they do."

"Oh," Lucy said, excitement fading.

"But that doesn't mean that they can't be wonderful people," she said, sitting down and looking at the page Lucy was reading. "Their condition doesn't have to define them. It is something that they will have to learn to deal with but they can still be great people."

"Do you know any werewolves?" Lucy asked.

"I do. I know one," Minerva said with a smile. "And he is one of the kindest and bravest men I know."

"Can I meet him?"

"Maybe someday," Minerva said, tousling Lucy's hair. She got back up and returned to her sorting.

Lucy closed her book and got off the bed. She walked over to where her mother was and looked at the piles of clothes. "I thought you liked that one," she said, pointing to a black dress on the donation pile.

"Eh, I never wear it," Minerva replied. Lucy nodded. She sat down on the floor and started digging through the pile of donation clothes while more clothes continued to fly out of the closet and await Minerva's decision. Minerva looked over at Lucy. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

"No, just looking," Lucy said, pulling out another dress. This one was black and green. "You wear a lot of black."

"You wear a lot of dark colours too," Minerva said with a smile as she wave her hand dismissively at an emerald green robe and it flew into the donation pile.

"That is true," Lucy said with a nod. "But I wear a lot of different dark colours. You only wear green and black."

"Dark blue and dark red and black. Those are not a lot of different dark colours," Minerva pointed out.

Lucy laughed. "More than you."

Minerva picked up a tartan shawl and threw it over Lucy. "There's some red in there as well," she said.

Lucy laughed again as she pulled the shawl off her head. She put it over her shoulders and kept looking around for something else. She found a pointy black hat and put it on her head. She stood up. " _There's some red in there as well."_

Minerva turned around and looked down at her daughter dressed in her clothes. She raised an eyebrow at her but smiled. "Very funny."

" _Very funny."_

"Lucy."

" _Lucy._ "

"Okay, I'm ignoring you now," Minerva said, turning back to her closet.

" _Okay, I'm ignoring you now_ ," Lucy repeated again happily.

Minerva rolled her eyes and ignored her. Lucy waited for a little while but eventually gave up. She walked back to the bed, shawl and hat still on, and climbed up. She started jumping on the bed. Minerva turned around and gave her a look but she kept jumping.

"So, like, now I'm a full-fledged witch," she said.

"I don't think that just by wearing my hat and shawl you become a full-fledged witch," Minerva muttered.

"What do witches do?" Lucy wondered aloud, ignoring Minerva. "They're not usually very nice in stories. They usually use their magic for evil! But I'm not evil... I think."

Minerva laughed. "No, I don't think you're very evil, Lucy. I'm not evil either."

"Maybe I am evil!" Lucy exclaimed, still jumping on the bed. "And I turn people into frogs like the witch in The Princess and the Frog!"

"Well that's not very nice," Minerva said with a smile.

"I'm not very nice. I'm evil, remember!"

Minerva rolled her eyes but smiled. She turned back to her work. Just then there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Hey!" Nina said with a smile, coming into the room. "I just got back and was wondering where everyone was."

"Hello, sweetheart," Minerva said. "How was your day?"

"It was good," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Nina! I'm a witch and I turned you into a frog!" Lucy exclaimed.

Nina gave her a look. "But I don't want to be a frog," she said. "I would much rather be a person."

"You don't get to decide. I do!" Lucy said with a laugh, pretending to flick a wand at Nina. "I'm an evil witch and you're a frog now."

Nina laughed. She climbed up onto the bed and pretended to jump like a frog towards Lucy. She croaked like a frog. "Ribit! Ribit!" Lucy laughed. Nina jumped and grabbed her. "We must take down the evil witch!"

"No!" Lucy laughed as she fell backwards with Nina on top of her. Nina started tickling her. "No! Nina... haha... stop! No! Haha... please!"

Minerva turned around and watched them play. She shook her head though she smiled. "You're both ridiculous."

Nina grabbed the hat from Lucy's head and put it onto her own. "Now I'm the witch and I turn myself back into a person," she said, pointing her finger at herself. She then pointed her finger back at Lucy. "And you will be my servant. I enslave you with magic!"

"That's not nice," Lucy said with a laugh.

"Well you weren't a very nice witch to begin with, now we're you?"

"No, I was evil," she said, getting back up. She took off her shawl and put it on Nina. "Okay, you're the witch. Are you a good witch or a bad witch?"

"Hmm... I think I'm a good witch," Nina said with a smile. "I free you from my enslavement. We don't do that here in my kingdom."

"Yay!"

"See isn't being a good witch much better?" Nina said.

"Sure," Lucy said with a laugh.

Nina got up from the bed and walked over to where Minerva was still sorting clothes. She looked down at the pile of clothes. "You're getting rid of all these clothes?"

"Yes," Minerva said. "I don't really wear them and they're just cluttering up my closet now. Some of these are even older than Lucy."

"Wow," Lucy said, jumping off the bed and walking over as well.

Nina reached down and pulled out a dress. "This one's cute."

"If you like any of them you can have them," Minerva said.

"Do you want to help me go through these clothes, Lucy?" Nina asked, sitting down on the floor in front of pile of clothes.

"Okay!" Lucy said, running over to her.

Nina pulled Lucy into her lap, took off Minerva's hat and put it back on Lucy's head. She pulled up dress after dress, asking Lucy her opinion, and then threw them into two separate piles. A small pile of clothes she would keep and a larger pile of donation clothes. Minerva finished sorting through her clothes and sent the ones that she was keeping back into the closet. She looked over at Lucy and Nina and smiled.

"Lucy, do you have any clothes you would like to donate? You've grown so there are probably some clothes in your closet that don't fit you anymore," Minerva said.

"Yeah," she said. "Probably."

"I probably have some too," Nina said. "I've been meaning to clean my and Daniel's closet for awhile now. I guess we can do a late spring cleaning, huh?"

"I guess," Lucy said, not really wanting to spend her time cleaning.

Nina smiled. "Hey, you know what that means right?"

"What?" Lucy asked curiously.

"If we get rid of all of the old clothes that are taking up too much space in our closet," Nina said with a smile, "we get to replace them with new clothes!"

"So we can go shopping!" Lucy said excitedly.

"Yes!" Nina replied.

Minerva rolled her eyes but smiled. "This is supposed to be about decluttering and downsizing," she said. "Not getting an excuse to buy more things."

"When should we go?" Nina said, ignoring Minerva. Lucy shrugged.

"You haven't even cleaned yet," Minerva persisted.

"Are you and Daniel going to come with us?" Lucy asked her mother.

"You do need more Muggle clothes," Nina pointed out.

"Do I?" Minerva asked.

"Yeah, you need more casual clothes. I mean, whenever you go out with us you're super dressed up," Nina said. "We'll be over here wearing jumpers and jeans and you're there in your long dresses looking all fancy."

Lucy laughed while Minerva rolled her eyes. "Well excuse me for wanting to look nice," she said with a shake of her head.

"I never said that you shouldn't look nice," Nina said with a laugh. "I'm just saying that you don't have to show us up all the time. Right, Lucy?"

"Right," Lucy said. "Besides, dresses suck."

"No, they don't," Minerva said with a smile.

"They do," Lucy replied matter-of-factly.

"Alright well, get up off my floor. Both of you," she said, ushering them up. "Get to work in your own rooms."

Lucy and Nina stood up, Nina clutching the clothes she had pulled out of Minerva's pile. As they walked towards the door Minerva flicked her wand and her donation clothes flew into a plastic bag. The bags floated down the stairs towards the entrance. Lucy watched them go and then turned back to her mother.

"Mum?" she said. "Will you help me do my closet?"

"Of course, darling," Minerva said with a smile. Lucy smiled, took her hand and pulled her pulled her towards her own bedroom.

* * *

**_Saturday, June 20th_ ** **_1998_ **

"Why do I have to go too? I don't need more clothes," Daniel said, crossing his arms and leaning back on the couch. It had been a week since everyone had cleaned out their closets and Nina and Lucy planned a shopping trip for the five of them to buy some new clothes. "I'll just be carrying your bags, won't I? Why can't they just ask Maria to get them whatever they want? Maria can get them anything!"

"Oh stop whining," Minerva said, flopping down in an armchair. "I'm being dragged out too. Never really liked shopping, now did you?"

"Neither did you," Daniel pointed out. "If it weren't for Dad neither of us would have ever bought any new clothes."

Minerva smiled, thinking back to family shopping trips that usually started the same way as this. Minerva and Daniel sitting in the living room whining while someone else pulled them out the door. "He didn't like shopping for himself but he did love dragging us out of the house and buying us things."

Daniel smiled a little. He sighed. "And now I have Nina to make sure I buy new clothes. Though, I do think she does this a lot more often than he did."

"She does like to shop," Minerva said with a smile, "and so does Lucy now."

"Nina's fault."

Just then Minerva heard laughter coming down the stairs. "Here comes the little monster," she said.

Daniel smiled as Raj and Lucy walked into the living room. Lucy was sitting up on Raj's shoulders. She had to duck so she wouldn't hit her head on the top of the archway into the living room. She and Raj were already wearing their coats and shoes.

"Ready to go?" Lucy asked excitedly. "Ready to go?"

"I guess," Daniel mumbled. "Where's Nina?"

"She's coming," Raj said, tossing Daniel and Minerva their coats. "Shall we head out?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Lucy cheered. "Get up, get up!"

"I'm getting up. I'm getting up," Minerva said, standing up with a groan.

"Getting old, Minerva?" Raj asked with a laugh.

Minerva gave him a look as she put on her coat. Daniel stood up too and walked with them to the entrance. Nina walked down the stairs and saw them. She got on her shoes and coat as well and off they went. Raj drove them to the mall and they went from shop to shop looking through the racks.

"I honestly don't know why I'm here," Daniel mumbled. He was carrying half of Lucy, Nina, and Minerva's bags while Raj carried the other half. Nina had taken Lucy to try on the clothes so Raj, Minerva, and Daniel were going through racks of clothes alone, waiting for them.

Minerva smiled as she looked through some clothes. "You whine a lot."

"Lighten up, Daniel," Raj said with a laugh. "It's not so bad."

He gave them both a look. "I think I might go back to the car," he mumbled. "I could go home and pick you guys up later."

"Or," Minerva said, "you could enjoy spending time with your family. That's always a good option as well."

"Augh."

She laughed and looked over at him. "You didn't find anything in the men's section?"

"He didn't like anything I pulled out for him," Raj said.

"How old are you again?" Minerva asked.

"Nineteen, not as old as you obviously as I can remember my age," he said. Minerva gave him a look. He smiled and pulled an ugly looking blouse out. "I think this would look great on you."

"I agree," Raj said with a laugh.

She looked over at Daniel and raised an eyebrow. He just smiled and put the shirt back. Minerva rolled her eyes and pulled out a black blouse. "What about this one?"

"That's nice," Raj replied. "Are you going to go try these clothes on?"

"No, I don't feel like it."

He smiled. Nina and Lucy came back holding a few shirts each. Lucy walked over to her mother and held up the clothes in her hands.

"I'm going to get these ones," she said.

"Those look nice," Minerva said with a smile. "But wouldn't you like to get a little bit more colour in your closet. You have a lot of these same colours."

"That's what I said," Nina muttered, walking up to Daniel and putting an arm around his waist. He smiled and pulled her closer.

"I like these colours," Lucy replied.

"Okay," Raj said. "Why don't we pay for these and then we can go get some food from the food court."

Daniel nodded and grabbed Lucy's clothes from her hands. He held out a hand for Minerva's clothes as well. Minerva handed him the clothes in her arm and then took Lucy's hand. "Come on, we can go find a table while they pay."

Lucy nodded and walked out of the store with Minerva. Mineva led the way to the food court and looked around. The mall was pretty packed today. It seemed like all of Rochester was out shopping today.

"Do you see a free table?"

Lucy didn't respond so Minerva looked down at her. "Lucy?"

Lucy quickly looked up. "What? Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Minerva smiled. "That's alright, what are you thinking about?"

Lucy shrugged and pointed a little ways away. "There's an open table," she let go of her mother's hand and ran towards the table.

Minerva smiled and walked after her. They sat down at the table and Minerva looked around at the line of fast food places. "Where would you like to get food from?"

Lucy shrugged. "What do you feel like? Maybe burgers?"

"Burgers sound good," Minerva said. "We'll wait for Raj, Daniel and Nina first though."

"Mum?"

"Yes, love?"

"The other day I was reading about The Witch Trials," she said a little nervously. "They used to burn people at the stake because they thought they were witches."

"That was a long time ago, Lucy," Minerva said with a small smile. "They don't do that anymore."

"That's why you're not supposed to tell anyone," she looked around quickly and lowered her voice, "that you can do magic."

"Yes, it was, but that's not really the worry anymore," Minerva said. She took Lucy's hand and smiled. "Don't worry, darling. No one's going to burn you at the stake."

Lucy smiled. "I know... I just... why would they do that? That's so stupid."

"It is stupid," Minerva said. "I don't really know why they would do that. I mean it happened hundreds of years ago, people thought differently than they do now."

"They used to torture women to make them admit that they were a witch and then they would burn them," Lucy said. "I read some of the stuff they used to do... it was scary."

"Why are you reading that?" Minerva said. "You shouldn't be reading that stuff."

Lucy shrugged. "Uncle Raj wouldn't burn us at the stake if we told him about magic."

Minerva smiled and shook her head. "No, I don't think he would," she said, "but that's not why we haven't told him."

"I still don't get why we can't tell him. He's our family," Lucy said.

"I don't know, Lucy," Minerva said with a sigh. "Now is just not a good time."

Lucy sighed as she sat back in her chair and looked around the food court. She saw Raj, Nina and Daniel walking towards the food court and waved. They saw her and came over.

"Okay, we eat and then we leave. I think we've done enough shopping for the day," Daniel said, putting the bags down under the table.

"Oh but we still haven't gone to -"

"No, it's getting late and I want to go home," Daniel said cutting across Nina. Raj, Minerva and Lucy laughed. "Lucy, what do you want?"

"Daniel, why are you so grumpy?" she asked instead of placing an order.

"I'm not grumpy. Now, do you want to eat or not?"

"Okay, okay. I'll have a cheeseburger without tomatoes," she said quickly.

Daniel took everyone else's order as well and then got up to buy the food. Minerva watched him go and shook her head. "He's a little grumpy."

"A little?" Lucy said.

Nina laughed. "He doesn't like shopping and he has a headache," she said. "We should probably just go home after we eat."

"I'm alright with that," Raj said with a smile. "We have done a lot of shopping today. The three of you bought a lot of stuff."

"Oh, and you didn't?" Minerva asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"I, unlike you, Minerva it seems, can control myself," Raj said with a laugh.

"I can control myself just fine, thank you very much," Minerva replied.

"I wanted to go to the bookstore quickly before we leave," Lucy said. "Can we go? Please?"

"Alright, that is a store I would be willing to go to," Minerva said with a smile. "I'll talk to Daniel."

"Yay!" Lucy said.

"This is controlling yourself?" Raj asked, earning him a look from Minerva.

Nina laughed and shook her head. They waited for Daniel to return and they ate their food. Minerva talked to Daniel and he begrudgingly agreed to go to one last store. They walked across the mall towards the bookstore and Lucy dragged Minerva into the fiction section. She pointed at books on the high shelves and Minerva pulled them down for her.

Lucy looked at a book and read the summary. "This one is about a princess named Lia," she said, "who fights a dragon. Anne said it was good."

Minerva looked at some other books. Muggles definitely loved books about magic. She smiled to herself as she read a ridiculous magic spellbook. She shook her head and put it away. She took Lucy to the front desk so she could pay for her books and then found Raj, Nina and Daniel waiting in the science fiction section. Raj was reading a little bit of a book while Daniel told Nina, who looked a little bored, all about the intricacies of some fictional universe that she cared very little about. Nina rolled her eyes and told him that it was time to go. This made him happy. He took Lucy's bag of books, putting it with the others, and led the way back to the car.


	13. Secrets Divulged

**_August 1995_ **

_Lucy quietly reached up and turned the doorknob of Daniel's room. She opened the door and poked her head in. Daniel was sitting on his bed with a book in hand when she entered. He looked up and gave her a small smile._

" _They're yelling again," she whispered._

_He sighed and nodded. "I know, kid," he said, motioning for her to come over. She walked to the bed and climbed up beside him. He put an arm around her. "It'll be okay, Lucy. Sometimes mommies and daddies fight but it'll be okay."_

" _Why are they fighting?" she asked, looking up at him._

" _I - I don't know," he said honestly. "Probably something stupid. I'm sure they'll get over it and make up soon."_

_Lucy sighed but doesn't respond. In the silence she could hear the sounds of yelling from the floor below. She couldn't make out what was being said but whatever it was could not be good. She just wanted her mother and father to stop fighting and be happy. This was their third big fight just this month._

_Daniel saw her getting sad again so closed his book and tossed it to the corner of the bed. "Hey, how about we do something?" he said. "We could play a game or I could read you a story."_

_She looked up at him for a second before nodding. "Can you read me a comic?"_

_Daniel smiled and nodded. He climbed over her and got off the bed. He walked over to the bookshelf. "Hmm..." he said, running his finger across the line of comic books, "where did we leave off last time?"_

_He grabbed the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic from the one they finished the last time he read to her and walked back to the bed. He got back into his spot, pulled the blankets around them and started reading. Lucy snuggled closer so she would be able to see the pictures better and smiled as Daniel started reading._

...

" _How could you leaving do anything to protect us?!" Jay yelled downstairs in the kitchen. He was standing opposite Minerva, the kitchen table sitting in between them._

" _I put you in danger every time I Apparate to or from this bloody house!" Minerva exclaimed, slamming her wine glass down on the kitchen table._

" _And what about the children!" he yelled back, glaring at her. He was very angry now and was about to say something that he would surely regret later. "They need you! Don't you care about them!?"_

" _Jay! How - what! Of course I care about them! That's why I have to leave! Because I love them... and if you loved them too you would let me go!" she screamed, tears fell down her cheeks. "Don't you want to protect them? How can you keep me around when I put them in danger?!"_

_He glared at her and shouted, "Because I love you!"_

_Minerva stopped. She took a couple deep breaths. When she spoke next her voice was quiet and soft. "I love you too, my darling," she whispered. "I love all three of you so much and that's why I must go. I couldn't bear to think of something happening to you because of me. Because some Death Eater follows me home or You-Know-Who somehow finds out about you. I have to go, even though it'll kill me to leave you."_

_Jay stared at her for a long time before flopping down in a chair. He rubbed his tired eyes with his hands before picking up the glass of wine he had set down before their fight and downing the contents. Minerva walked closer to the table and picked her own back up but did not sit down. He avoided looking at her._

" _It's not just you. It's Isobel, Malcolm, Robert and them. Amelia and Albus as well," Jay mumbled._ _He was no longer angry, just disappointed. He loved this woman but he could not understand what she was saying now. No matter how many times she explained her reasons he would never understand why her leaving them would be the best option._ _"That's so many people that Daniel and Lucy are losing. All at once."_

" _I know," Minerva said with a sigh, "b-but it's safer this way, Jay. It is."_

" _And who will help Lucy? She's a witch too. She's doing so much magic already. She needs someone to help her understand it and Daniel and I are not those people."_

" _I know," Minerva said again sadly, "but it is dangerous for me to stay. The war is getting more intense and I don't want to put you or the children in danger."_

" _You think it will be safer if you leave?"_

" _Yes."_

" _And who will explain that to Lucy and Daniel? They are children, Minerva! They won't understand," Jay exclaimed._

" _I know," Minerva agreed. She walked around the table to her husband and placed a hand on his. He turned his hand over and their fingers interlocked. Minerva gave his hand a little squeeze. "I know they won't understand and I know that Lucy needs me here to help her understand her magic but it is important that I leave for now. I don't want a Death Eater to follow me here or for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to find out about you all. I want you to stay safe and for this war to be over and so I must leave."_

" _But you will return?"_

" _Yes, when the war is over I will return," Minerva said with a smile._

_Jay looked up at his wife. He tried to look reassuring but Minerva could see the hurt and sadness in his eyes. He hadn't forgiven her. She wondered if he would. If only he could understand how much this hurt her as well. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay. She wanted to watch Lucy and Daniel grow up. She wanted to be there for Daniel's graduation and to see him off to university. She wanted to take Lucy to her first day of school and hear all about it when she got home. She just had to fight this war first. She had to fight and win and then. Then she could be with her family again._

" _Alright," Jay said finally, breaking the silence. His voice was neutral and his expression unreadable, "but if anything happens and you need a safe space, come home. You will always be welcome here."_

_She smiled a little and leaned down so she could hug him. He kissed her cheek. It wasn't the same. Minerva still felt the hesitation and the disappointment in their interactions. He was trying very hard to forgive her, she knew he was, but he had yet to do so. When they pulled away Minerva wiped the tears away from her face and sighed. He sighed too and looked at his now empty wine glass, also feeling the same off feeling she was._

" _When are you going to leave?"_

" _As soon as possible."_

" _Stay for Lucy's birthday," he said quietly. "She deserves to have her mother there when she turns four."_

_Minerva nodded. "I will."_

_He stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "I need a scotch."_

_She sighed. She downed the rest of her wine before getting up too. "The children are probably awake still."_

" _I don't think anyone could have slept through that," he muttered, back to her as he poured his drink._

" _I'll go check on them," she said quietly. "I'll see you in the bedroom."_

_He didn't respond so she left the kitchen. Minerva walked up the stairs and saw Lucy's bedroom door wide open. She sighed and walked to Daniel's bedroom. She knocked on the door and heard him say, "come in."_

_She opened the door to see him sitting on the bed with Lucy beside him. He had a comic book open that he had been reading to her. Minerva smiled. "It's time for bed, my darlings," she said. "Lucy say goodnight to Daniel."_

_Lucy looked over at Daniel and he gave a little nod. "Goodnight, Daniel."_

" _Night, kid," he replied with a smile. She climbed off the bed and walked towards the door. Minerva gave her a small smile and picked her up into her arms. Daniel looked over at her and said, "night, Min."_

" _Goodnight, darling," she said, closing Daniel's door and walking towards Lucy's bedroom. "It is way past your bedtime, my love."_

_Lucy didn't say anything. She just wrapped her arms around Minerva's neck tightly and hugged her. Minerva smiled a little. They walked to the bedroom and Minerva put Lucy down on the bed. She kneeled down on the floor next to the bed and helped Lucy under the blankets. Lucy looked at her and reached a hand out to touch Minerva's cheek._

" _Mommy crying?"_

" _I'm not crying, my love," Minerva said. She gave her a small smile but she knew that her red eyes was probably what gave her away. Lucy didn't look very convinced. Minerva put a hand on her little one that was still on Minerva's cheek. Lucy was copying what she had seen Minerva and Jay do when she cried._

" _Why were you fighting?" Lucy asked quietly._

" _Oh you don't have to worry about that. We're sorry that we made it hard for you to sleep," Minerva said, brushing her fingers through Lucy's hair. "We aren't fighting anymore."_

" _You and Daddy made up?"_

_Minerva smiled. "Yes, your father and I made up."_

" _Good!" Lucy said with a smile. "You and Daddy shouldn't fight."_

" _We won't, my love," Minerva said. She looked at the time and sighed. "Alright, time to go to sleep, darling. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"_

" _Okay," Lucy whispered. "Goodnight."_

" _Goodnight, my darling," Minerva whispered, leaning down and giving Lucy a kiss on the forehead. "Sleep tight."_

_She got up off the floor and walked to the door. She turned off the lights and closed the door before heading back to her bedroom. Jay still hadn't come upstairs yet. Minerva sighed and got changed. When she was already for bed, Jay still hadn't come back. Minerva got into bed and tried to get some sleep but she couldn't. Time past slowly and sleep still evaded her._

_Finally she heard the stairs outside creak. Jay walked into the bedroom but she didn't greet him. He looked over at her before walking towards the closet to get changed. Minerva sighed and turned to look at the clock on the bedside table. It was much too late. She felt angry at Jay for not coming to bed sooner. Jay came back to the bed._

" _I know you're awake," he mumbled as he got in._

" _Are you drunk?" she asked._

" _Maybe a little," he replied honestly. He sighed and moved closer to her. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. This embrace felt a lot warmer than the last one had. It felt more sincere, more real. "I'm sorry."_

_She smiled and hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry too, my love. I'm sorry for everything."_

" _You don't have to be. You're just doing what's best," he whispered. "I never should have implied that you didn't care about Lucy and Daniel."_

" _I did the same to you," she whispered. "And I'm still sorry."_

" _Let's not waste the few day you have left before you leave fighting," he said._

_Minerva smiled and nodded. He smiled too and kissed her._

* * *

**_Thursday, June 25th 1998_ **

"It's over! It's over! Yay summer!"

"Is your school year over?" Minerva asked as Lucy ran into the kitchen and threw her backpack on the chair. "I wouldn't know. It's not like you've been yelling about it all week."

Lucy and Nina laughed. Lucy ran up to her mother, putting her elbows up on the table, and said, "You're off school too, right?"

"Yes."

"And so is Daniel and Nina so we can all do something together!" Lucy said excitedly. She looked over at Nina who was standing in the kitchen looking for something to eat. "Maybe Uncle Raj can take some time off work and we could all go somewhere on vacation!"

Nina looked at her and smiled. "Maybe," she said, opening up the pantry and looking inside. "We can ask him and Daniel when they come home."

"Where do you want to go?" Minerva asked.

Lucy shrugged. "Anywhere! Anywhere away from here."

Minerva smiled. "Okay, little one. Why don't you go get changed out of your uniform before you do anything else."

Lucy nodded and ran out of the kitchen singing about school being over. Minerva smiled and shook her head. "She is very excited."

"Don't worry. In about a week she's going to be bored out of her mind and wishing school was still going on," Nina said with a laugh, picking up a bag of chips and coming over to the table. She sat down and put the bag down in front of her.

Minerva reached over and grabbed a chip. "I don't know if I can handle all that excitement for a whole week."

Nina laughed and with a mouthful of chips said, "well, at least you're off school as well so you can deal with it with us."

Minerva gave her a look but before she could respond Lucy ran back into the room and said, "Deal with what?"

"You," Nina replied.

Lucy walked up to the table and gave her a look. "I'm great to deal with," she said, sitting down and pulling the bag of chips towards her. "I'm a good little Indian girl, remember?"

Nina and Minerva laughed. They talked for a little while longer before Minerva had to get going to her meeting with Dumbledore. Lucy and Nina saw her out before going to sit down in the living room to watch some television. They played some board games as they watched and Nina asked Lucy more about her last day of year seven.

"My teacher said that I was a wonderful student," Lucy said.

Nina smiled. "That's great."

"I don't think she was a very wonderful teacher," she replied, making Nina laugh.

"Your teacher probably wouldn't think you're very wonderful if -"

Just then there was a loud bang outside the living room. Nina jumped slightly before standing up from the couch and turning towards the door. Lucy got up too.

"What was -"

Before she could finish three very large and dirty looking men with evil smiles that showed their rotten teeth and wands in their hands came into the living room. Nina gasped and slowly moved back so that she was standing in front of Lucy. Lucy was frozen with fear.

The man at the head of the group pointed his wand up at the two girls. He had long greasy hair, slicked back, and very sharp looking teeth. He had a very bushy short beard that just went around his jawline. He growled, "Don't move!"

They did as they were told. Lucy's heart was pounding in her chest. She was so scared. She looked up at Nina and whispered, "Nina..."

"Take whatever you want," Nina told the men as she moved a little so that she was now covering Lucy from view. Lucy gripped Nina's leg, not sure what was about to happen. "Just please don't hurt us."

Wicked smiles appear on the men's faces. "Shut up," one of them grumbled, walking forward towards them. He walked up to Nina, grabbed one of her arms and pulled roughly.

"Don't!" Lucy yelled and suddenly the man was thrown backwards.

The other two men reacted quickly. One of them pointed his wand at Lucy and yelled, " _Crucio_!"

Lucy suddenly felt immense pain course through her entire body. She fell to the ground and screamed out in pain. Tears filled her eyes and washed down her face. It felt like thousands of white hot needles were boring into every inch of her skin. She screamed louder than she had ever screamed before, not able to hold it in.

Nina quickly fell to her knees beside her and held her as she squirmed around in pain. Nina didn't know what to do. Tears fell down her own face. She just held Lucy close to her and screamed at the men, "stop it! Stop! You're hurting her!"

The man with his wand pointed at Lucy put it down slightly and the pain stopped. Lucy pushed herself up into Nina's arms, tears still pouring down her cheeks. "Get up. Sit there," the man said, pointing to a couch. "Try to use magic again and see what happens."

Nina stood up with Lucy still in her arms and moved to the couch the man was pointing at. She sat down and held Lucy close to her chest. She didn't know what the men wanted or what she could do to get them away from her and Lucy. There was silence for a long time. Nina watched the men walk around the room, touching things, knocking them over or pulling things apart just to look at them.

"So, this is McGonagall's house," one of the men said looking around the living room.

"Are you sure these are her kids?" another asked looking at the man with sharp teeth. "Why would McGonagall care about these dirty brown kids?"

"They're hers," the man replied. "Guess she couldn't find a good white guy."

"Disgusting, really."

Lucy buried her face in Nina's chest and Nina held her tighter. She just wanted these men to go away. "Nina..." Lucy whispered. " _Dar lag raha._ "

" _Mujhe pata, sonu_ ," Nina whispered back. She looked back at the man that had used his magic to hurt Lucy. "What do you want? Maybe I can help you find it."

The man laughed a malicious laugh. "We don't want any of your muggle toys."

"What do you want then?"

The man didn't respond. Nina realized what they were doing. They were waiting for something or someone. "Who are you waiting for?"

"You ask a lot of questions, maybe you should shut up," another man said menacingly.

"Nina,  _bus caro_ ," Lucy whispered.

Nina didn't listen. "If you're waiting for Minerva. She's not coming back today."

The man smiled. "We know."

"They're waiting for Daniel," Lucy whispered, realisation hitting her. She sobbed into Nina's chest. "They want all three of us... Nina... what do they want with us?"

"Shh, Lucy, it'll be okay," Nina whispered, stroking Lucy's hair and trying her best to sound calm. She looked around the room. There must be something she could do or something she could use.

"When's this bloody kid gonna get here, Greyback?" one of the men asked, sounding very impatient.

Greyback, the man with the sharp teeth who had hurt Lucy, glared at the other man. "We've only been waiting five minutes, Fenic. Shut the hell up!"

"Ask them," Fenic said, pointing at Lucy and Nina.

Greyback turned to Nina. He walked closer to her, wand out and ready. "When's the other guy coming back?"

"Not for hours."

"How many hours?"

"I don't know. He could be gone for the rest of the day."

The third man, the one Lucy had flung across the room, smirked. "Well, Greyback, if we have time to kill..."

Greyback rolled his eyes. "Do what you want Turk."

Turk smiled evilly and walked right up to the couch. He grabbed Nina's face roughly by the chin and moved it side to side. "You're a pretty one, aren't you?"

Nina's heart rate quickened. She pulled her head back, away from his grasp. He just laughed and grabbed her arm tightly, forcing her up. She pulled back, turning so that Lucy was farther away from him. "Stop, please," she whispered, tears falling down her cheeks now.

"Let go of the kid," Turk grumbled, pulling Nina back around and moving his hand up her thigh. Nina moved Lucy so that she could hold her better. "Fine, the kid'll do too."

Turk wrapped his large hands around Lucy's waist and tried to pull her away from Nina. Lucy wrapped her arms around Nina's neck and buried her face in Nina's shoulder so she couldn't see Turk or the other two men. Nina held her tightly.

"Let go, kid! We can have some fun! You'll like it!"

"No!" Lucy yelled, tears streaming down her face. Nina held her tighter.

Turk was getting angry now. He pulled harder, trying to get her away from Nina but the two girls held onto each other tightly. Nina moved back quickly, trying to get as far away this man as possible. Turk waved his wand and Nina was pushed backwards. She hit the wall with a thud and slid to the floor. "Ouf!"

"Turk, just stop," Fenic mumbled. "Watching this is sad."

Turk glared at him. Greyback mumbled something that Nina and Lucy couldn't hear and Turk moved to sulk in a corner.

"Nina,  _theek ho_?" Lucy whispered.

" _Main theek hoon, sonu_ ," Nina whispered, putting Lucy down in her lap. She ran her hand over the top of Lucy's head. Her head had been on Nina's shoulder when she had hit the wall. Nina checked for any bumps forming. " _Aap theek hai na_? Is your head okay?"

"I'm okay," Lucy replied. She buried her face in Nina's chest. " _Hum kya karenge_?"

"I don't know, Lucy."

"Daniel will be home soon and Mommy's not coming home to help us," she cried. "What are they going to do with us?"

"I - I don't know, Lucy," Nina whispered again, wrapping her arms around Lucy tightly. She did her best to wipe the tears from her own face but the tears kept coming.

...

"James, hurry up," Sirius said, running through the gate of McGonagall's house. "We're already late."

"Sorry, Sirius," James said, following after him, pulling out his cloak as they went. Sirius walked up to the house and started around the perimeter. He poked his head up to look through the living room window. "Hey, be careful, their car's here. They might see you."

"Oh my god!" Sirius whispered, ducking down quickly. He turned and motioned for James to do the same. "Death Eaters!"

"What!" James raced over to the window. He looked inside and saw Lucy and Nina sitting on the floor holding each other while three men walked around the room. He ducked down, kneeling beside Sirius.

"What do we do?" Sirius asked.

"Okay, okay," James said. "You send a message to McGonagall and tell her to hurry down here and then we'll use the Invisibility Cloak and sneak up on them."

Sirius nodded. He stood up and used his wand to send a silver dog off to Hogwarts. James also got up and covered the both of them with the Cloak. They walked towards the front door that looked like it had been blasted open. It hung on one hinge and had large cracks in the glass.

"Okay, we have to be really quiet," James said as they reached the door. "We'll go to the living room and then I'll stupify one, you stupify another and then we can take on the third one together."

"Sounds good," Sirius said.

They slowly walked through the open door and made their way quietly to the living room. They could hear Nina whispering to Lucy, trying to keep her calm. James pointed his wand at his target and waited for Sirius to point at another. Sirius gave a small nod and in one motion they both pulled the Cloak off of them and yelled, " _Stupefy_!"

The Death Eater that James's had targeted fell to the ground unconscious but Sirius's had been too quick and blocked the attack. Lucy and Nina stared wide eyed at the two men who appeared out of nowhere and were now in a duel with the two standing Death Eaters. Spells were being cast every which way. Nina took the opportunity to pull herself and Lucy behind the couch.

"James! Sirius!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hey, Lucy. Hey, Nina," James said with a smile as he sent a spell towards Turk. "Alright?"

Nina put Lucy down into a crawling position. "Come on."

Lucy followed as Nina crawled across the room from behind the couch while the wizards kept fighting. Nina put an arm out to stop Lucy as a blast of green light shot in front of them.

"James," Sirius muttered as he blocked another spell from Greyback. "We've got to get the girls out of here."

"I know," James said, sending a stunning charm towards Turk. Turk blocked it and sent a green light back at him.

"Nina, if we run -"

"No," Nina said. "It's too dangerous. Sirius, can you -"

Suddenly a silver light filled the room. It hit Greyback and then Turk. They toppled to the ground unconscious. Albus Dumbledore walked into the living room followed closely behind by Minerva. She raced quickly to Nina and Lucy and pulled them into a hug.

"Are you two okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nina whispered. Her heart was still racing and tears were still pouring from her eyes. "I - I think so."

"Mommy," Lucy whispered through her own tears.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here now," Minerva said, pulling her daughter and Nina closer to her.

"What the hell happened?" Daniel said, entering the living room. He had seen the front door wide open and had run up from the driveway to make sure everyone was alright. He looked at three men lying unconscious on the floor to the other three men standing over them and then over to where his family was sitting on the ground behind the couch. Lucy pulled away from her mother and ran over to Daniel. He leaned down and hugged her, picking her up into his arms. She wrapped her arms around Daniel's neck and buried her face in his shoulder, tears still streaming from her eyes. Daniel rubbed circles on her back. "Hey, hey, it's okay."

Nina stood up and walked over to Daniel as well. He held onto Lucy with one arm and hugged Nina with the other. Minerva watched them for a second before getting up herself and looking over at Dumbledore, Sirius and James.

"Where were you two?" she asked angrily, walking over to the two boys.

James looked up at his Professor sadly. "I'm sorry, Professor. We were running late today. We're really sorry."

Minerva glared at them. Dumbledore shook his head. "What's done is done. James, Sirius, you did well," he said. "It was a good thing you thought to contact us first. You may go now."

"Wait," Nina said, turning around in Daniel's arm so she could look at them. "What happened? Where did these guys come from? What did they want with us?"

Dumbledore looked at the three children, huddled together and motioned for them to sit down on the couch. Nina shook her head, still hugging Daniel tightly. Lucy was still crying on his shoulder.

"These three were Death Eaters," he said. "They came after you to get to Minerva."

"Death Eaters..." Lucy whispered, looking over at the men, still lying on the floor. Daniel reached out a hand and gently guided Lucy's head away from the men and back down into his shoulder. He rested his hand on the back of her head for a little while before putting it back around Nina. Minerva sighed. She hadn't wanted Lucy to find out about the war. She hadn't wanted her to be scared like this.

"We were worried that something like this may happen," Dumbledore continued. "Which is why James and Sirius were assigned to watch over the three of you."

"So they know about us now?" Daniel said. "It's not safe here anymore?"

Dumbledore looked over at Minerva and then back to Daniel. "I fear it may not be."

"Where will we go?" Nina asked quietly, moving closer to Daniel. She turned to look at him. "My flat at the university?"

"There are a couple options you have," Dumbledore said. He looked at James and Sirius. "We should get these three away from here and leave the others to plan their next move."

James and Sirius nodded. They pulled out their wands and lifted the men from the room. They said their goodbyes and left everyone still standing in the living room. When they were gone, Minerva walked over to Daniel and held out her arms for Lucy. Daniel handed her over and then hugged Nina properly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her.

Nina nodded. She held him tightly. "I'm okay."

"Mum," Lucy whispered, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck.

"Yes, love?" Minerva asked.

"What does Death Eater mean?"

"They're bad people, Lucy," Minerva replied. "But they're gone now. You don't have to worry."

"What do we do now?" Daniel asked.

Minerva thought for a second, she looked at the scared faces of Nina and Lucy looking up at her. "I think we may need to leave Rochester for a while."

"Where are we going to go? And for how long? All three of us have school in two months," Nina said, starting to sound frantic. "This is our home! How long will we have to stay away?"

"I know," Minerva said with a sigh. "I don't know how long we will need to stay away but it's too dangerous for us to stay here now."

Daniel sighed. "Alright, well we can figure out the school thing when we get there," he said, placing a hand on the Nina's arm. "Where are we going to go?"

Before Minerva could answer another voice called from the front door making Lucy and Nina both jump.

"Minerva?" Amelia's worried voice called.

"We're here, Amelia," Minerva said. "In the living room. We're all okay."

Amelia came in and looked them all over. "Oh, thank god!" she exclaimed, coming up to Daniel and Nina first. "Dumbledore told me what happened and I came down as fast as I could. Are you alright, my dear?"

She pulled Nina into a hug and Nina hugged her back. She nodded into Amelia's shoulder and Amelia rubbed her back soothingly. When they pulled away Amelia hugged Daniel too and then walked Minerva and Lucy.

"How - how could this happen?" she asked as she took Lucy from Minerva's arms.

"I don't know," Minerva said quietly. She felt tears in her own eyes and did her best to push them back. She shook her head. "I don't know how they managed to find our house. There were so many protections on it."

"Aunty Amelia," Lucy whispered. "Our house isn't safe anymore."

"It'll be okay, my love," Amelia whispered, rubbing Lucy's back. She looked from Daniel and Nina to Minerva. "What are you going to do now?"

"I was thinking we could stay at Hogwarts," Minerva said, reaching up and running her fingers through Lucy's hair. "I have rooms there and a lot of other families are staying there too. It most likely the safest place in the United Kingdom right now."

"We will need to leave soon, won't we?" Nina said.

Minerva nodded. "We should leave as soon as possible. We cannot be sure that more Death Eaters aren't coming."

"More..." Lucy whispered as she gripped Amelia tighter, making Minerva regret saying that. Amelia rubbed small circles on her back and whispered in her ear to calm her down a little.

"Okay," Daniel said. "Why don't we pack and we can leave today. I don't think we will be able to get any sleep in this house tonight." Everyone agreed and Daniel gave a small nod. He looked over at Nina. "You should also call anyone you need to and let them know that we won't be in town for the rest of the summer."

Nina nodded. "Lucy, you'll probably want to call Anne as well, right?"

Lucy nodded. Nina held out her hand out for Lucy to take and Amelia put her down. Lucy walked over and took Nina's hand. They walked out of the room towards the kitchen where the phone was. Daniel took a deep breath and gave his stepmother a small smile. "We'll be okay."

Minerva closed her eyes and gave a small nod. "This is all my fault."

"No it's not."

"Maybe if I had stayed away at least until the war ended this wouldn't have happened."

"What if you hadn't come back and they found out anyway?" Daniel said. "Then James and Sirius wouldn't have been here to help and who knows what would have happened."

"I guess you're right," Minerva mumbled.

"We need you here. No matter what happened, we're glad you're back," Daniel said. Minerva gave him a small smile. "Lucy will be done on the phone soon and then you should help her pack. I'm going to go pack my own things."

Minerva nodded. She watched him walk out of the room before looking at Amelia. Amelia gave her a small smile. "It'll be okay," she said. "Hogwarts is safe. They'll be safe there."

Minerva nodded a little. The tears in her eyes finally fell down on her cheeks. She did her best to wipe them away but it wasn't working. Amelia pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Everyone's safe. It's okay."

"It was so close, Amelia," Minerva whispered. "If... if something happened to either of them... I - I don't know what I'd do."

"It's okay. Nothing happened," Amelia said. "They're both safe and we're going to make sure it stays that way. Lucy and Nina will love Hogwarts. Lucy hasn't been there in a while. I'm sure she'll love exploring the castle again."

Minerva nodded. "There - there are children her age she can play with," she said. "She - she can make friends."

"Yes! Exactly," Amelia said with a smile, pulling away a little. "This will be good for them. They'll like it there."

Minerva nodded again and wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay, I'm done being ridiculous. Let's get to work."

"You weren't being ridiculous. It's okay to cry sometimes, Minerva," Amelia said. "Now, why don't I go upstairs and help Daniel pack his and Nina's things. Then I'll do your room and you just worry about Lucy's room."

"Thank you," Minerva said with a nod. "Thank you, Amelia."

"Of course," she said with a smile.

They walked out of the living room and Amelia headed up the stairs while Minerva went into the kitchen. Nina was talking on the phone while Lucy sat at the kitchen island with her head down on her arms. Minerva walked over to Lucy and put a hand on Lucy's back. Lucy flinched and looked up quickly but relaxed when she saw it was just her mother. Minerva frowned and pulled away but Lucy reached out for her. Minerva hugged her.

"Have you talked to Anne already, darling?" she asked quietly.

Lucy nodded.

"Alright, why don't you come upstairs with me and I'll help you pack your things," Minerva said.

Lucy nodded again, slid off the stool and took her mother's hand. They walked up the stairs and into Lucy's bedroom. Lucy sat down on the bed and pulled her knees into her chest. Minerva picked up the backpack that Isobel had given Lucy for Christmas. She walked over to Lucy's bed and sat down, pulling Lucy close to her.

"Here, you can put your things in here. It should fit everything," Minerva said.

Lucy leaned into her mother's chest. "He tried to touch Nina," she whispered.

Minerva closed her eyes. "She's okay. They're gone now. Nothing happened."

"They hurt me," she whispered. "With magic, I think."

"Oh, darling," Minerva whispered. She wrapped her arms around Lucy.

"It hurt so bad. I've never felt like that before."

"I know, love, I know."

"Why would they do that?"

"I honestly don't know, Lucy. I'm sorry but I don't have a good answer for you. I wish I knew," Minerva replied honestly, not wanting to lie to her daughter.

"Now we have to leave home because of them. I don't want to leave home," Lucy mumbled.

"Oh but I'm sure you'll love Hogwarts," Minerva said with a small smile. "It's a huge castle."

"But I wanted to spend the summer with Anne," Lucy mumbled. "Will we be back when school starts again?"

"I don't know, Lucy. Hopefully," Minerva whispered. She pulled her wand out and Lucy looked up at it. She watched as Minerva flicked her wand and clothes flew out of the closest and folded themselves. The clothes drifted into the open bag that Minerva was holding. "What else do you need?"

Lucy shrugged. She moved to lie down in the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Minerva frown. She flicked her wand again, shoes, toiletries and other things Lucy may need flew into the bag as well. She put the bag down and moved over to where Lucy was lying.

"Lucy, please. We have to go," Minerva said.

"I'm packed and ready," Lucy mumbled.

Minerva rolled her eyes but smiled. She stood up. "Alright, your bag is over there if you have other things you want to take. I'm going to go see how Daniel and Amelia are doing."

Lucy looked up quickly. "Wait!"

Minerva raised an eyebrow at her. Lucy got out of bed and grabbed her bag. She looked around the room quickly. She ran around the room, grabbing things and stuffing them in the bag. When she was done she closed the bag, threw it over her shoulder and walked back over to her mother. She grabbed her mother's hand. "Okay, let's go."

Minerva gave her a small smile. She could tell that Lucy didn't want to be left alone right now. They walked to Daniel and Nina's bedroom where Nina was sitting on the bed and Daniel was zipping up his last suitcase. Amelia flicked her wand and that suitcase, along with the rest containing Daniel and Nina's things, flew out of the room and down the stairs to be with the others she had packed in Minerva's room. Lucy let go of Minerva's hand and climbed onto the bed into Nina's lap. Nina hugged her close.

"Ready to go, love?" she asked Lucy.

"Yes," Lucy replied with a nod. She pointed back at her backpack. "Mum helped me pack."

"That's good," Nina said with a smile.

"Okay," Daniel said, straightening up. He looked over at Minerva and Amelia. "Why don't we go downstairs and give them a minute?"

Minerva nodded. She took Lucy's backpack from her and she and Amelia followed Daniel from the room. Lucy turned so that she could look up at Nina. She hugged Nina's chest and rested her head on her. Nina gave her a small smile and a little squeeze.

"We'll be okay, Lucy," she whispered. "I know today was scary but we'll be okay."

"Nina we're going to a school for more magical people," Lucy replied. "What if -"

"They won't be like these ones," Nina interrupted quickly. "We wouldn't be going if they were."

Lucy nodded slightly. "Nina... I'm still so scared."

"I know, sweetheart, I am too," she replied. "But in time I think we'll both be okay. Now come on, let's not keep everyone waiting too long."

"Okay," Lucy said.

Lucy and Nina walked down the stairs. Lucy saw the front door was closed now but the glass was broken and anyone could just walk through it. She stuck close to Nina as they walked by the door. The sun was setting outside now. Lucy hadn't even realized it had gotten this late. She heard her stomach growl and realized it was past dinner time now. Nina told her that they would probably eat at Hogwarts.

They made it to the living room where everyone was waiting for them. The living room was still a mess. Things were broken and knocked over, furniture was pushed around, the television was smashed. Their bags sat by the door and Daniel, Amelia, and Minerva were sitting in some chairs. Lucy let go of Nina's hand and walked over to Minerva. Minerva smiled a small smile at her and wrapped her arms around Lucy's waist.

"Portkey is ready," she said as Nina walked over as well and sat down on the arm of Daniel's chair. Daniel put an arm around her. "Leaves in about fifteen minutes so we have some -"

"What the hell?!" a voice exclaimed from the entrance, cutting Minerva off. They heard the sounds of glass breaking as the front door opened. "Daniel? Lucy? Nina? Are you okay?"

Minerva looked over at Daniel quickly. "I completely forgot that Raj was coming back today!"

"I did too," he said. He looked over at the door and called loudly, "we're fine, Uncle Raj. We're in the living room."

Raj walked into the living room and looked around with wide eyes. "What the hell happened?!"

Lucy pulled away from Minerva and ran over to him. He dropped his briefcase and picked her up. "Uncle Raj!" she cried. "Bad people came to our house."

Raj looked around at them with a horrified expression on his face. "There was a break in?"

Minerva stood up and nodded. "Yes," she said. "Thankfully everyone is fine, nothing was stolen and the perpetrators have been arrested." She motioned to the bags by the door. "However, we have decided to leave the house for a little while."

Raj nodded as he walked over. "That's understandable," he said. "Have you already made hotel arrangements or shall I? Were you all here when they broke in?"

"Nina and I were," Lucy whispered.

"Oh god," Raj said, reaching up and putting a hand on Lucy's head. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Lucy nodded. Raj put a hand on Nina's shoulder and she stood up and hugged him too. He wrapped an arm around her her and rubbed her arm.

"I can be packed in five minutes," he said, holding both girls. "Where are we going?"

"Actually... we're going away for the rest of the summer, Raj. Maybe longer," Minerva said a little awkwardly. "It's no longer safe here for us. We need to leave and I don't know when exactly we'll be able to see each other again."

"What?" Raj asked with a frown. He didn't understand what Minerva was saying right now. "See each other?"

"We won't be able to contact you where we're going," Minerva said.

"Wait... no," he said, shaking his head and holding Lucy and Nina tightly. "No. Who the fuck do you think you are?!"

Lucy's eyes widened. She looked over at Daniel who was standing now too. Nina pulled away a little and looked up at Raj, a little frightened. Amelia also stood up and whispered something to Minerva. Minerva should just tell him everything.

"Raj, I -"

"No. No," he said, letting go of Nina so she could go back to Daniel. He kept Lucy in his arms though. "No. You were gone for two fucking years and now you come back and you tell me that I can't see these children anymore? Who do you think has been here while you were gone? Who do you think was raising them because it sure as hell wasn't you or Amelia! I've been here looking after them for the past two years and you don't get to just take them away from me! How fucking dare you!"

"Raj, please calm down," Minerva said. She knew that he still hadn't forgive her but she hadn't expected this. "That is not what this is. Please just listen to me. It's safer this way."

"Safer? That is absolute bull-"

"Okay," Daniel said suddenly. "This is ridiculously. Amelia is right, we need to tell him the truth. This has gone on long enough. Uncle Raj, what happened today wasn't just a break in. It was a kidnapping attempt. These men, they were part of this group called the Death Eaters. They are a group wizards who believe that they are better than other wizards and witches and non-magical people. There's a whole secret world full of magical people and it's at war right now because of the Death Eaters. Min, Amelia and Lucy can all do magic. Min and Amelia are part of this group called the Order of the Phoenix that fight against the Death Eaters. Which is why they came here today. They came to try to get us to get to her."

Raj stared at him for a long time. "Magic..."

Daniel nodded.

Raj looked from Minerva to Amelia and then to Lucy. "You can do magic?"

Lucy nodded. She lifted up her hands and held them together. Suddenly a small flame ignited in her palms and danced around. It got a little bigger and Raj could feel the heat on his face. He reached up and put a hand near the flame. It was real. It was real and it was in her hands without burning them.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," she whispered, closing her hands and making the fire disappear. "I wasn't allowed to tell anybody."

Raj looked back at Daniel. "You knew. This whole time?"

Daniel nodded. "That's the reason Min left for so long. The war got really bad and she thought it would be safer so something like this -" he motioned around the living room - "wouldn't happen."

"It's why you went up to Castletown back in October," Raj whispered, realization hitting him. If Isobel had been home, she could have used magic to save Jay.

Daniel nodded again, not trusting himself to speak. He didn't like talking about that trip. It was one of his lowest moments.

"We're going to Hogwarts," Minerva said finally. "It's the school for magic that I teach at. It's become a home for many refugees displaced by the war and is probably the safest place in the whole United Kingdom right now. We could stay, keep moving around from hotel to hotel, but I think that this will be safer."

"Did he know?" Raj asked, staring at Minerva. "Did Jay know?"

"He did," Minerva said with a nod.

Raj stared at her and then at Amelia. He shook his head and Amelia saw the hurt on his face. "Ten years," he mumbled. "We've known each other ten years and never once was I informed."

"Raj, we -" Amelia started but he cut her off.

"And now you have to take them away," he said. He looked at Lucy and gave her a kiss on the cheek before setting her down on the floor. He kneeled down in front of her and held her arms. He gave her a little smile. "Hogwarts is safe?"

She nodded. "Everyone says so."

Raj sighed. "The rest of the summer, maybe longer," he mumbled. He shook his head and made himself smile again. He had to be strong. Strong for her. "I love you, Lucy, and I want you to know that you and Daniel helped me just as much as I helped you."

"No," Lucy said, tears filling her eyes. This felt like a goodbye and she didn't like it. She didn't want to say goodbye forever. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck quickly. "No! I don't want to leave Uncle Raj!"

"Lucy, I -"

"No, we're not going to leave him," Daniel said. He looked at Minerva. "Not contacting him is ridiculous. We can send letters, maybe come down for a visit every so often. I don't want to cut off contact with Uncle Raj either."

"I can bring him up to Hogwarts for visits," Amelia said. "There are a lot of other Muggles staying there too. I don't think anyone will mind."

"Lucy and Daniel need him," Nina said quietly. She looked over at Raj and gave him a small smile. "And I need him too."

Raj smiled back at her. "I need you all too."

Minerva nodded. "You're right. Cutting off contact is ridiculous," she said. She did not want to make the same mistake twice. "We will send letters. They are sent through the Owl Post. Meaning tied to the leg of an owl. They will be sent to your office at the Collins Enterprises building only. Owls can be tracked and it won't seem out of the ordinary for us to be sending letters to our own company. I don't want anyone to track you down to your apartment, Raj. If they think you're close to us you'll be in a lot of danger too."

Raj stood up with Lucy in his arms again and nodded. He smiled and looked down at Lucy. "Owls, huh?"

Lucy smiled a little and nodded, still hugging him tightly.

"Amelia will bring you by for visits. We will arrange them at a later date," Minerva said. She looked down at her watch. "Our Portkey leaves in one minute. Raj, I would suggest you pack up your things and head home. It's not safe for you to stay here either."

"I'll stay behind and help him pack as well as fix up the house," Amelia said. "You four go on ahead."

Minerva nodded and picked up the folded up newspaper on the coffee table.

"Uncle Raj, why can't you just come with us now?" Lucy asked.

"I think it's best you just go with the others," Raj said, putting her down again. "But I'll see you soon, Kitten."

"See you soon, Uncle Raj," Lucy whispered before walking over to Minerva.

"Goodbye, Daniel, Nina, Minerva," Raj said with a little smile. "I'll see you all soon."

They said goodbye and grabbed onto the newspaper as well. Minerva pulled out her wand and flicked it. The bags by the door shrunk in size and flew over to her. Raj watched them with wide eyes. She grabbed them out of the air and stuffed them in her pocket before picking Lucy up so she could grab the newspaper too.

They stood there for a moment without anything happening and then suddenly Raj blinked and they were gone. It was now only him and Amelia left in the living room.

"Wow," he said quietly.

Amelia smiled. "Portkey," she said. "It's a magic object that takes you from one place to another in a matter of seconds."

"So... a war?" Raj said.

Amelia sighed and nodded. "It's been going on since '93," she said. "The leader of the Death Eaters was the one that killed my parents and grandparents. Then last month my brother and his family."

"I'm very sorry."

"You don't have to be," she mumbled. She pulled out her wand and looked around the room. "I'll fix this and the door first and then we can go up and pack your things."

He nodded as he watched her flick her wand. Suddenly things around the room began to move. Furniture went back in their rightful places, broken things mended themselves, and knocked over things turned upright.

"Magic," Raj mumbled. "Wizards and witches. War. That's a lot of things to process all in one day."

"It is," she said. "I'm really sorry we didn't tell you earlier. I wanted to back when you asked me the real reason I never came back but... I didn't and that was very unfair to you."

"What's done is done," he said quietly, moving over and picking up his suitcase. "Nothing to be done about it now but move on. Tell me about the war. It must have been horrible if it made Minerva leave her family for two whole years."

Amelia sighed and nodded. "It was," she said as she began walking towards the front to fix the front door. She told him all about it. Everything thing that happened, every attack, everyone who had been murdered. She told him more about the Order, about Hogwarts, and just the Wizarding World in general. She told him about her work with the Ministry of Magic and about Muggles and Muggleborns. The prejudices that the Death Eaters held against them and what they wanted exactly. As they went up to his bedroom to pack his things, she told him about the giants and the werewolves. She also told him about how unique Lucy's magic was. How she didn't need a wand and how she was quite advanced for her age. Raj had just learned about magic and this new world but he was already proud of Lucy for being a great witch.

"I'll come by later this week to help you figure out the Owl Post," Amelia said when they were done and Raj was about to leave. "You do have windows that can open in your office, right?"

"Yes, I do," he said. "It's pretty high up so I'm not too worried about people seeing an owl fly over to it. Though, I will say, owls seem like a strangely non-magical way to deliver mail. I expected more from your Wizarding Community."

Amelia smiled. "Owls are very magical creatures, Raj," she said. "They can find almost anyone anywhere around the world and they deliver mail very efficiently. A lot faster than your... what do you call it? Oh, yes, snail mail."

Raj laughed. "We don't actually use snails, you know."

"I've sent letters through the Muggle Post before," she said. "I know how it works and I know that owls are faster."

"Alright," Raj said with a smile. "Well, we should probably get out of here. How you leaving? Portkey too?"

"No, I'll be Apparating. That's when you disappear in one place and reappear in another. It's like using a Portkey but you don't need an object to do it and you can only do yourself and two others."

"I see."

"I can Apparate you home, if you'd like," she said. "It's a lot faster than driving."

"That's alright," he said as he opened the now fixed front door and walked out. She followed after him and he closed and locked the door behind her. "I'll need my car tomorrow to get to work. I don't want to take the tube."

Amelia smiled. "God forbid you travel like a peasant!"

"That's not what I said," he said with a laugh, walking down to his car.

"Well, I'll see you soon, Raj," she said with a smile. "I'll have to walk out the gate to be able to Apparate. There are spells on the house to stop people from Apparating directly onto or off of the property."

"Oh, well, hop in," he said. "I'll give you a ride. It'll save you like ten minutes."

She laughed. "I'm not that lazy."

"Just get in, Bones," he said with a smile as he opened the passenger side door for her.

Amelia smiled and shook her head but got into the car anyways. He closed the door behind her and walked around to the other side. He got into the driver's side and drove them to the gates. When they got out on the other side, Amelia decided just to keep him company on the rest of the drive back to London. She could Apparate from anywhere after all. He was happy to have her company and insisted on buying some food for their drive as it was past dinner time by now and they were both starving.

"I don't want to go to some fancy restaurant, Raj," Amelia said. "I'm not that hungry it's fine."

"Fancy restaurant?" he said with a laugh. "No, Amelia, we're getting fast food. I think I've earned it today."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he pulled into the drive-thru of some restaurant with large golden arches on the front of it. She had never been through a drive-thru before and found it very fascinating. They got their burgers, fries and drinks in record time and were on the highway towards London before Amelia even knew it. She was quite impressed by this feat of Muggle ingenuity.

...

Lucy, Nina, Daniel and Minerva appeared on the outskirts of the Hogwarts grounds. Minerva put Lucy down and took her hand as she led them up the steeps slopes towards the castle gate. Standing in front of the tall, black iron gates were two men. One younger, with brown hair, a mousy face, and a thick coat on that made him look a little marshmallow like. He was quite skittish looking, turning his head left and right quickly as if making sure nothing snuck up on him. The other was a wide, muscular man with dirty blonde hair and a glass eye that swivelled around looking every which way and a lot of scars on his face. He also had a metal leg, poking out of the end of his trousers.

"Good evening, Minerva," the man with the strange eye said as they walked up.

"Alastor, Peter," Minerva greeted. Lucy stared at the man called Alastor and moved closer to her mother. Minerva looked down at her and gave her a small smile.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," Peter said. "We heard the Death Eaters found your safe house. I'm glad you're all okay."

"Thank you, Peter," Minerva said with a sigh. "It was a close call but fortunately James and Sirius got there before anything could happen."

"They're good boys," Alastor muttered. "Shouldn't've been late for their post however. We get no breaks anymore. Constant Vigilance." He looked down at Lucy who was half behind her mother's legs now, gripping her trousers tightly with her free hand. Moody gave her a small gruff smile. "Ah, little Miss Lucy Collins. It's been a while."

Minerva tugged Lucy out from behind her. "This is Alastor Moody and Peter Pettigrew," she said. She looked back at Daniel. "You remember Mr. Moody, don't you, love?"

Daniel smiled and nodded, walking closer and shaking Moody's hand. "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Moody," he said. "It been quite a while."

"It has," Moody said. "Yeh've definitely grown, Daniel. Taller than me now. Yeh look a lot like yer father."

Daniel smiled. "Thank you," he said. He looked over at Nina. "This is my girlfriend, Nina. Nina, Mr. Moody is a friend of Min's from when she worked at the Ministry."

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Nina said with a smile, shaking his hand as well.

"It's nice to meet yeh as well, Nina," he said. "Hope this one's treating yeh righ'. Yeh let me know if ever he annoys yeh too much."

Nina laughed. "I doubt it'll be a problem," she said, "but thank you very much for your concern."

"I doubt the little one remembers me," Moody said, looking back down at Lucy. His other eye whizzed around every which way as he stared down at her.

"I don't think she remembers me either," Peter said with a smile.

"Well, she was quite young when she met you both," Minerva said with a smile. She looked down at Lucy and frowned. Lucy was being quite rude.

Minerva gave her a look and Lucy got the message. As Daniel and Nina greeted Peter, Lucy looked up at Moody hesitantly before sticking out her hand towards him and, very politely, saying, "hello, Mr. Moody. I'm sorry for not remembering you."

Moody chuckled a little as he shook her little hand with his massive one. "That's alrigh'," he said. "I jus' hope I didn't scare you too much."

Lucy shook her head and he laughed again. Lucy moved over and stuck her hand out towards Peter as well. "Hello, Mr. Pettigrew. I'm sorry for not remembering you either."

"Hello, Lucy. You can just call me Peter," Peter said with a little smile. "It's alright. You were very little when we met. Got my friends and I in a lot of trouble, you did."

Daniel laughed. "Sounds like Lucy."

"I'm sorry," Lucy said uncertainly.

"That's alright," Peter said with a smile.

"So, I assume Albus told you we would be coming," Minerva said, looking back at Moody as Lucy moved back over to her and took her hand again.

Moody nodded. "We still gotta check yer bags," he replied. "'S'just protocol."

Minerva nodded. She flicked her wand and all of their bags flew over to the two wizards, going back to regular size again. Lucy watched as the two men wave their wands around the bags for a while before giving a nod. They waved their wands one last time and the bags disappeared. "Bags are clear, as expected," Moody said. "Yeh may go."

"Have fun at the castle," Peter said.

"Thank you," Minerva said. She led the group through the gates and up towards the castle.

When they were far enough away, Daniel moved closer and whispered, "Moody's really… changed."

Minerva sighed and nodded. "I know," she whispered. "I forgot that you hadn't seen him with his fake eye and leg. It's been a long time since he acquired those."

"Is he okay?" Nina asked.

"Oh, he's fine," Minerva said. "Not so fond of the leg, needs a cane to walk now but he's getting more used to it the more he uses it. He loves his new eye though. Claims to like it a lot better than his old one. It's magical so he can see through anything, even the back of his own head. He can see how many Death Eaters are inside a building without going inside first. I've heard him joke that he should have replaced one of his eyes with this one years ago."

"That's good at least, I suppose," Nina said, looking back towards the gate and moving a little closer to Daniel. Daniel gave her hand a little squeeze.

"What – what happened to his leg and eye?" Lucy asked, looking up at her mother with a frightened look on her face.

"Um, I'm not sure actually," Minerva replied. She knew that Alastor Moody had lost his leg and eye fighting against Death Eaters but she wasn't about to tell Lucy that.

They walked to the huge stone castle. It was dark out now but light shone through the windows of the castle giving it a warm glow. There were green vines climbing up parts of the stone walls and the towers were so tall.

"Wow," Nina said. "The castle is beautiful."

"And you were worried," Daniel said, giving Lucy a little nudge.

Lucy smiled a little back at her brother. They walked into the castle and Lucy looked around every which way, not wanting to miss a thing. The halls were empty but there was still chatter amongst the paintings that moved around and talked to each other. Lucy watched them laugh and joke and wave at her. She waved back as they called their greetings. They welcomed Lucy, Daniel, and Nina to Hogwarts.

"It's quite late. Everyone is probably in their rooms by now," Minerva said.

As they walked, Minerva pointed out some important doors as they passed them. The doors to the Great Hall, the staffroom, doors down to the dungeon. They walked up staircases that moved and everything was lit up by floating torches or candles. Finally they made it to their desired destination. Minerva opened a door and said, "This is my office."

The office was a good size. There was one wooden desk with two chairs in front and one larger, more comfortable looking chair behind it. The walls were lined with bookshelves filled with large books. A fireplace stood directly across from the desk. Minerva walked around the desk to the torch on the wall. She grabbed it and pulled it down. This caused the stone wall beside it to fold in on itself and reveal a room. "This is my private quarters. Where we'll be staying."

"Cool! A hidden door!" Lucy exclaimed, following her mother into the private rooms excitedly making Minerva smile. Daniel and Nina smiled and followed as well.

The hidden door opened into a sitting room that was decorated in a red and gold theme. Around a wooden coffee table was a large maroon couch, two matching armchairs and a loveseat. In another corner of the room was a huge black grand piano. A beautiful gold chandelier illuminated the room. The sitting room flowed into a hallway that had three other doors in it.

"This is the sitting room, over there is my bedroom, that one will be your bedroom -" she looked at Daniel and Nina. "Your bags should already be in there. That one is the toilet," Minerva said, pointing out each door. "There are only two bedrooms so, Lucy, you can share a room with me, if that's alright."

Lucy nodded. She was actually glad to be sharing a room with her mother. After everything that happened today she didn't want to be alone.

"Why don't you all sit down and I'll have a House Elf bring us some dinner," Minerva said.

They did as they were told and Minerva called a House Elf named Dotty to bring them food. The food appeared on the coffee table a few moments later and Minerva sat down to eat with everyone else as well. They didn't talk very much while they ate, everyone was too hungry and still a little shaken up over what happened.

After dinner they decided to get ready for bed. It was quite late now, way past Lucy's bedtime.

"But I wanted to explore," Lucy whined, not wanting to go to bed yet.

Minerva smiled. "You can explore tomorrow. There are a lot of children your age here. You can meet them as well tomorrow," she said as she took Lucy's hand. "Come now. Nina is right. It's bedtime."

Lucy frowned. She looked over at Nina and Daniel. Daniel gave her a smile. He walked over and tousled her hair. "Goodnight, kid."

"Night, Daniel," Lucy said. She let's go of Minerva's hand and walked over to Nina. Nina kneeled down and gave her a hug. "Night, Nina."

"Goodnight, Lucy."

She got up, they said goodnight to Minerva and she and Daniel walk into their bedroom. Lucy walked back to Minerva and took her hand. Minerva led them to her bedroom. The room was a decent size. It followed the same red and gold theme that ran throughout the sitting room. There was a four-poster bed with maroon covers in the middle of the room. On either side of the bed were small wooden side tables. On the farthest wall from the door was a half hexagonal bay window. The large windows overlooking the courtyard. On the yard was a small hut. Beyond that was a very thick forest. There was also a dresser with a large mirror on top of it. The closet in the room was on the smaller size but Lucy could make do. Lucy's bag sat on the bed.

"Do you like the room?" Minerva asked.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, it's nice," she said, pulling herself up onto the bed. "I feel like... like it's familiar."

"Well, you and Daniel have both been here before," Minerva said with a smile as she pulled out her wand to unpack their bags. Things flew out of them and placed themselves in their rightful places around the room. Lucy smiled as she watched them. Lucy's pajamas float over to her and she grabbed them out of the air. She got up off the bed and changed her clothes. Minerva put Lucy's bag away and grabbed her own clothes. She excused herself to go to the bathroom to change. When she returned, she got into the bed beside Lucy. Minerva tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the forehead and said, "Goodnight, my love."

"Goodnight, Mum."

Minerva flicked her wand and the lights around the room go off. She then set her wand down on her bedside table and snuggled closer into the blankets. Lucy had been very tired. She had an exhausting day. It had been both emotionally and physically draining. She fell asleep quite quickly. Minerva listened to her rhythmic breathing and looked over at her with a smile. She looked so small lying in bed beside her. Minerva fell asleep not long after that.

...

Minerva was woken by stirring on Lucy's side of the bed. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and looked over at her daughter. Her breathing had quickened and was no longer consistent. Her body was shaking and she mumbled in her sleep. "No... don't hurt us... please."

Minerva sat up a bit and reached out a hand. She touched Lucy's arm but before she could say anything, Lucy suddenly woke up and pushed her away. "Don't touch me!"

"Lucy?" Minerva whispered.

Lucy looked around frantically, trying to figure out where she was. Tears filled her eyes. "Mommy..."

"Lucy, I'm right here, darling," Minerva said, pulling her close to her. "It's okay. It was just a bad dream."

"I'm sorry, I thought you were..." Lucy sobbed into her mother's chest.

"It's okay, darling," Minerva said, rubbing small circles on her back. "It's okay."

"I had a dream about the Death Eaters," Lucy whispered.

"I know but it's okay. You're safe at Hogwarts," Minerva whispered. "Nothing can happen to you here."

"But what if they come here?"

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

"I know they won't come here because they're scared," Minerva said with a smile.

"Scared?" Lucy asked, confused. "Why are they scared?"

"They're scared of your Uncle Albus," Minerva replied. "He's the only one they're scared of. You saw how easy it was for him to take out those Death Eaters. Albus is probably the strongest and most powerful wizard out there so as long as he's here the Death Eaters wouldn't dare come here."

Lucy thought about this for a second and then smiled. "They're scared of Uncle Albus? That's funny. He's so nice."

"He's only nice to nice people. He doesn't like bad people like Death Eaters," Minerva said with a smile.

"Uncle Albus is staying here?"

"Yes, he's been here for a really really long time and he's not going anywhere any time soon. That's why Hogwarts is so safe," she replied. "That's why people come here. It's the safest place in the whole world because of your Uncle Albus."

"Uncle Albus is the best," Lucy said with a smile.

"He is," Minerva said with a smile as well. "He would never let anything happen to this school."


End file.
